A note on fieldwork in 'dangerous' circumstances: interviewing illegal tiger skin suppliers and traders in Lhasa

Whilst there is no doubt that fieldwork research involving active criminals contains risks and dangers, this is not always the case. Drawing on interviews conducted with illegal tiger skin suppliers and traders in Lhasa (Tibet), this article challenges orthodox understandings of criminological field...

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Published inInternational journal of social research methodology Vol. 18; no. 6; pp. 695 - 702
Main Author Wong, Rebecca W.Y.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.11.2015
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
active criminals
Animals
Crime
Criminals
Field study
Fieldwork
Foreign Countries
gender
Gender Differences
Identity
Interpersonal Relationship
Interviews
Methodological problems
Offenders
Recruitment
Researcher subject relations
Researchers
Risk
Safety
Sampling
Self concept
Skin
snowball sampling
Socialization
China
Tibet
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Abstract Whilst there is no doubt that fieldwork research involving active criminals contains risks and dangers, this is not always the case. Drawing on interviews conducted with illegal tiger skin suppliers and traders in Lhasa (Tibet), this article challenges orthodox understandings of criminological fieldwork. My experience in Lhasa speaks to three methodological issues: (A) the process of gaining access to and recruiting interviewees from the underworld, (B) fieldwork dangerousness and (C) the effects that the personal identity of the researcher has on the process of socialisation with the interviewees.
AbstractList Whilst there is no doubt that fieldwork research involving active criminals contains risks and dangers, this is not always the case. Drawing on interviews conducted with illegal tiger skin suppliers and traders in Lhasa (Tibet), this article challenges orthodox understandings of criminological fieldwork. My experience in Lhasa speaks to three methodological issues: (A) the process of gaining access to and recruiting interviewees from the underworld, (B) fieldwork dangerousness and (C) the effects that the personal identity of the researcher has on the process of socialisation with the interviewees.
Author Wong, Rebecca W.Y.
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SubjectTerms active criminals
Animals
Crime
Criminals
Field study
Fieldwork
Foreign Countries
gender
Gender Differences
Identity
Interpersonal Relationship
Interviews
Methodological problems
Offenders
Recruitment
Researcher subject relations
Researchers
Risk
Safety
Sampling
Self concept
Skin
snowball sampling
Socialization
Title A note on fieldwork in 'dangerous' circumstances: interviewing illegal tiger skin suppliers and traders in Lhasa
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