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2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Approaching Informality: Rear-Mirror Methodology and Ethnographic Inquiry

Author : Marius Wamsiedel

Published in: The Informal Economy in Global Perspective

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to advance a methodological framework for the study of open secrecy, the voluntary concealment of the nature of proceedings jointly performed by members of a social order with a vested interest in protecting the current state of affairs. It elaborates on the “rear-mirror methodology”, extending it to ethnographic inquiry. To cast aside the veil of collective secrecy, the chapter makes the case for a flexible approach to fieldwork, and recommends that researchers adopt the status of partial insider and the role of naïve newcomer; maintain rapport with, but also distance from, participants; and regard as meaningful the apparent incongruities between data generated through casual talk and data obtained via formal interviews.

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Title: Approaching Informality: Rear-Mirror Methodology and Ethnographic Inquiry
Author: Marius Wamsiedel
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: The Informal Economy in Global Perspective
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40930-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-40931-3

Copyright Year: 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40931-3_6

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