A representative 85 percent response rate makes elite interview samples trustworthy

Evidence

Of an initial randomly drawn sample of 110 parliamentarians, 93 (85%) were interviewed. Putnam reported that the individuals interviewed faithfully reflected the composition of the entire Parliament (635 members) over a wide range of characteristics (e.g., party affiliation, age, education, social class, parliamentary seniority, and political importance). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2297