This study is based on the analysis of a series of semi-structured interviews designed to provide information about the state of institutional support for faculty scholarship and collegial interaction at Emory. IR interviewed seventy-five faculty members between 1999 and 2002 at different stages in their academic careers: completion of three years (nontenure), tenure, promotion to professor, and nearing retirement. Participants had been randomly selected from all the university's schools and disciplines.

IR developed an interview protocol for each group, drawing from the work of scholars of academic life: Boice, Tierney and Bensimon, and Menges; feedback from fifteen Emory faculty who reviewed protocol drafts or completed pilots and commented critically; and findings from previous studies conducted at Emory. To preserve confidentiality, all interviews with junior nontenured faculty were conducted and transcribed by outside contractors.