Methods
A biographical introduction
Methodological approach to the interviews
The consequences on the nature of the interviews

The corpus of the programme of oral archives has particular characteristics which determine the precise methods of interviewing and the nature of the personal accounts obtained.

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A biographical introduction
The diversification of the corpus made it necessary to open each interview by a biographical introduction in order to be able to situate the personal account and expose it to outside criticism. This approach was decided by the Scientific board and put into practise by Jean-Pierre Williot right from the outset. This biographical introduction only rarely exceeds thirty minutes and follows a pro-forma questionnaire : date and place of birth, family origins, educational background, the war, the Resistance and the Occupation, first political commitment, career, offices held, government responsibilities where applicable etc. and always finishes with the first encounter with Georges Pompidou. We insist, in as far as it is possible, on the initial commitment of the interviewee, which makes it possible to link him or her to a family, a political generation and to have a better understanding of his or her sensibilities and loyalties. The inter-war period, the war, the IV Republic are thus touched upon and articulated around the Georges Pompidou years themselves, which, in this way, they place in perspective.
We, hope, thereby, to situate the personal account and thereby criticize the source that we have constituted. However, this biographical introduction also corresponds to a wider ambition : to be able to characterize the political staff of the Georges Pompidou years and thus contribute to prosopographical research.

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Methodological approach to the interviews
For the carrying-out of the interview several approaches were in fact possible and are used together.
The interviews almost systematically follow the pro-forma questionnaires, this is intentional. The interwiewee's encounter with Georges Pompidou, his portrait, key events which spanned his career, like the exercise of power are thus necessarily systematically evoked. These questions makes it possible to make links between different personal accounts in the corpus.
Hovever, even if the programme strives to apply a pro-forma questionnaire, it has to remain relatively flexible in order to be able to accommodate such a diverse body of interviewees. With a larger team of researchers, possessing a wider range of of abilities the programme could, by making use of their combined individual skills, seek to associate standard questions with issues which are more focused on the role played by the interviewee
This methodological choice also makes it possible to widen the strict biographical perspective in studying the Pompidou years in as far as we seek to analyse the decision-making process in its entirety, by going beyond its initial impetus. The interviews – since there is rarely only one – are, therefore, longer (4 hours on average), more detailed and often conducted by several interviewers, as they must associate their individual skills. Since 1997, we have associated students, Phd students, or even specialists on specific themes that the team could not undertake itself. This association is particulary used for the preparation of symposia.

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The consequences on the nature of the interviews
In spite of an approach which strives to be as rigourous as possible, the diversity of the corpus implies a wide variety of final products. Several factors contribute to the making of this oral source, independently of the parametres which are applied in the programme, such as the closeness of the relationship with Georges Pompidou or the interviewee's political sensibilities. The age of the interviewee and the ensuing problems of memory and reconstruction of events equally have a bearing ; the interviewee's celebrity, availabilty and the place of the interview ( the interviewee's home does not create the same atmosphere as the Institute or the Senate) ; the interviewee's background and the awareness that he or she might have of the scientific importance of their personal account. In view of this, the interwiews can be crudely put into three catagories. Certain accounts come more within the realm of imaginings since the interviewee develops their hypotheses from his or her personal intuitions and feelings. Others are more strictly informative and their chronothematic recording includes a multitude of names and dated events. Others, finally, come from people who have already analysed this moment in the past, who have written about it, sometimes at length, and who are, therefore, more analytical. In practise a large number of personal accounts come into all three categories which is, without doubt, what makes them so rich. It is our job when determining the framework of the interview to decide which method, more or less directive, will be the most profitable and to finetune our interventions during the interview.
We try to maintain the diversity of our corpus as far as this is possible, while measuring the time devoted to each individual, according to their closeness to Georges Pompidou or to their weight as far as decision-making is concerned. We also try to reconcile non-specialized issues in our questionnaires - which enables us to avoid isolating Georges Pompidou's programme and to make cross-references - with other, more general investigations, of a more specific line of research. In a nutshell, our corpus implies a flexible method of interviewing, while at the same time following a standard approach and a rigorous proceedure.