Recognizing the never quite absent: de facto usage, ethical issues, and applications of covert research in difficult research contexts

• Published in: Qualitative research : QR Vol. 23; no. 2; pp. 417 - 433
• Main Authors: Kluczewska, Karolina, Lottholz, Philipp
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.04.2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Ethics; Research applications; Researcher subject relations; Researchers; Social research; fieldwork; challenges; cooperative research; knowledge production; Central Asia; covert research; ethics; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan
• ISSN: 1468-7941; 1741-3109
• DOI: 10.1177/14687941211033084

This article scrutinizes and reconceptualizes covert research in social science. Surveying recent literature about this research method, we reflect on the ethical and safety implications stemming from the widespread, even if well-intended, lack of transparency characterizing many research projects, especially ones conducted in difficult research contexts. While the standard definition of covert research holds that researchers deliberately do not declare to research subjects that academic research is taking place, we argue that the remoteness of Western academia from most researched contexts often a priori renders field research at least partially covert, irrespective of the researcher’s intentions. This is because its aims, utility, and expected outputs are hard to understand for research participants unrelated to academia. We illustrate this argument by analyzing our own fieldwork experiences in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In conclusion, we emphasize the need to critically reflect on the de facto use of covert techniques by social researchers.