The Art and Politics of Covert Research

Abstract

This article discusses the covert research relationship. Specifically, it explores the ethical dimensions of fieldwork with reference to a six-month covert ethnography of `bouncers', in Manchester. Drawing from sociological literatures, the article wishes to raise for scrutiny the management of situated ethics in covert fieldwork which, despite having some increased recognition via debates about risk and danger in fieldwork, remains glossed over. The standard discourse on ethics is abstracted from the actual doing, which is a mediated and contingent set of practices. Traditionally, professional ethics has been centralized around the doctrine of informed consent with covert methodology being frowned upon and effectively marginalized as a type of `last resort methodology'.What I highlight here is the case for covert research in the face of much conventional opposition. I hope the article will open debate and dialogue about its potential role and possible creative future in the social science community.

Designing a consequentially based study into the online support of pre-service teachers in the UK

“…This is a response to the challenges of managing what some have called the "instability of research ethics" (Whiteman, 2010, p.8) and the dynamic and fluid nature of, not only the issues, but also awareness of them (e.g. Calvey, 2008;White & Bailey, 2004). In our study's case the redrafting of research questions and research design and redesign was a response to identifying and responding to a growing awareness of ethical issues involved.…”

“…This relates to a full appreciation of the 'situated' nature of ethic concern (e.g. Calvey, 2008;White & Bailey, 2004), to unpack the notion of 'cultural awareness' contained in the ethical framework under the dimension of external/ecological ethics (Stutchbury & Fox, 2009). The original research design was principally the outcome of a review of academic literature undertaken by a researcher based in Greece but planning to study in the UK.…”

Unsettling relations: Disrupting the ethical subject in fan studies research

“…This emphasis is evident in writing on the ethics of social science research that has emphasised the contingent and localised nature of ethical decision-making in qualitative research (see for example Meskell and Pells, 2004;Canella and Lincoln, 2007;Calvey, 2008), as well as studies of the relationship between ethics and identity that have focused attention on individuals' "strategies for shoring up an authentic sense of self" (Benwell and Stokoe, 2006:22; see also Lebow, 2013) in the face of moral uncertainty. Here, ethical manoeuvring is configured as an ongoing struggle that occurs in relation to a complexity of contested and sometimes competing ethical domains, including personal investments and institutional frameworks (Whiteman, 2012).…”

In the Picture or Off the Wall? Ethical Regulation, Research Habitus, and Unpeopled Ethnography

“…Moreover, ensuring I had informed consent from all possible participants within the organization itself might deeply affect the research, even destroy it (Lugosi, 2006;Punch, 1986). Covert, or partially covert research, was practicable for this study (e.g., Bulmer, 1982;Calvey, 2008;Dalton, 1959;Goffman, 1961;Holdaway, 1983;Scheper-Hughes, 2004) but would invalidate it as a pilot for a funded, larger study (which was, after all, the point). I favored an ethical situationism (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007), which seemed the most honest approach to ethnographic fieldwork, in which knowledge is processual and contingent (Blau, 1963).…”

“…The regulation of ethnography, social research ethics, and the problem of informed consent in public places and organizations are prominent topics in methodological literature (e.g., Adler & Adler, 1991;Atkinson, 2009;Bulmer, 1982;Burgess, 1985;Calvey, 2008;Christians, 2005;Denzin, 1968Denzin, , 1997Denzin, , 2009Dingwall, 2008;Fielding, 1982;Hammersley, 2006;Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007;Karp, 1980;Lincoln & Denzin, 2005;Lincoln & Guba, 1989;Punch, 1994;Van Maanen, 1983. Although a brief overview of the central debates follows a summary of the study, this is not the focus of the article but a backdrop to the principal points.…”