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

• Published in: International journal of social research methodology Vol. 18; no. 6; pp. 695 - 702
• Main Author: Wong, Rebecca W.Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• 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

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...