Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reflections on dangerous fieldwork

  • Articles
  • Published:
The American Sociologist Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Latin American fieldwork may involve danger for researcher and subject alike. The researcher must work to minimize his or her own or others’ exposure to violence. Unobtrusive methods such as Q-Methodology, participant observation, and quiet interviewing are recommended so that the researcher can build a sustaining and protecting network of contacts. This article discusses the interpersonal relations, problems of security, and field entry techniques involved in sensitive research situations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alves, Maria Helena Moreira. 1984.Estado e Oposição no Brasíl 1964–1984. Petropolis: Editora Vozes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arns, Dom Paulo Evaristo Cardinal, ed. 1985.Brasíl: Nunca Mais. Petropolis; Editora Vozes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betto, Frei. 1982.Batismo de Sangue. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilização Brasileira.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Steven R. 1985.Political Subjectivity. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, Herbert. 1982.Passagem para o Proximo Sonho. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Codecri.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galeano, Eduardo. 1983.Days and Nights of Love and War. New York: Monthly Review Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geertz, Clifford. 1973.The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, Erving. 1959.The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham-Yooll, Andrew. 1982.A Matter of Fear. Westport: Lawrence Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, Edward S. 1982.The Real Terror Network. Boston: South End Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger, Celia. 1987.The Social Construction of Lesbianism. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lagoa, Ana. 1983.SNI: Como Nasceu, Como Funciona. São Paulo: Brasiliense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lofland, John and Lynn Lofland. 1989.Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis. Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, Catherine A. 1989.Unnatural Emotions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, Catherine and Gretchen Rossman. 1989.Designing Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA.: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeown, Bruce and Dan Thomas. 1988.Q-Methodology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peritore, N. Patrick. 1986. “Field Notes on the Use of Q-Methodology in a Study of the Brazilian Left.”Operant Subjectivity 1, 10 (October): 10–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • -----. 1989a. “Mexico’s New Party Politics.”University Field Staff International Reports No. 15 March.

  • —————. 1989b. “Brazilian Communist Opinion: A Q-Methodology Study of Ten Political Parties.”The Journal of Developing Areas 23, 1 (October): 105–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1989c. “Liberation Theology in the Brazilian Catholic Church: A Q-Methodology Study of the Diocese of Rio de Janeiro in 1985.”Luso-Brazilian Review 26, 1 (Summer): 59–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1989d. “Brazilian Party Left Opinion: A Q-Method Profile.”Political Psychology 10, 4: 675–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • -----. 1089c. “Catholicism and Socialism in Cuba.”University Field Staff Report No. 11.

  • —————. 1990a.Socialism, Communism and Liberation Theology in Brazil: An Opinion Survey Using Q-Methodology. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1990b. “Brazilian Agrarian Reform: A Q-Methodology Opinion Survey on a Conflicted Issue.”Journal of Developing Areas 24, 4(April): 377–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • -----. 1990c. “Opinion Types in Mexico’s RulingPartido Revolucionario Institucional.” 36 page ms., under submission.

  • Sábado, Ernesto. 1984.Nunca Más. Buenos Aires: EUBA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shweder, Richard and Robert LeVine, eds. 1986.Culture Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, William. 1986a. “William James, Neils Bohr and Complementarity.” Part I,The Psychological Record 36:519–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1986b. “William James, Neils Bohr and Complementarity.” Part II.,The Psychological Record 37:529–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1986c. “William James, Neils Bohr and Complementarity” Part III,The Psychological Record 37:523–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1987. “William James, Neils Bohr and Complementarity” Part IV,The Psychological Record 37: 545–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1989. “Quantum Theory of Subjectivity.”Integral Psychiatry 6:180–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timerman, Jacobo. 1981.Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, Eugene, ed. 1966.Unobtrusive Measures: Nonreactive Research in the Social Sciences. Chicago: Rand McNally.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Missouri, 65211, Columbia, MO

    N. Patrick Peritore (associate professor of political science)

Authors
  1. N. Patrick Peritore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Ana Karina Galve de Peritore, his wife and frequent field collaborator, is a former professor of international relations at National Autonomous University of Mexico, and is currently a doctoral candidate in rural sociology at University of Missouri-Columbia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Peritore, N.P. Reflections on dangerous fieldwork. Am Soc 21, 359–372 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691846

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691846

Keywords

Search

Navigation