Dangers and Risks in
Ethnographic Research
“Seriously, fieldwork is dangerous
stuff. Between cars and criminals,
diseases and disasters, you can get
yourself maimed or murdered”
(Surviving Fieldwork, 2004)
Why were dangerous situations
in the field not reported in the
past?
Raymond Lee’s types of dangers:
• Ambient: connected to the topic and site of
research (violence, marginality, war, etc.) Linda
Green (2003), Zulaika (1995)
• How can researchers gain access and also mediate
personal safety in the midst of violent social
conflicts?
• Situational: it arises due to the presence of the
researcher (wrong place at the wrong time)
Lancaster (1991),
Anthropologist Myrna Mack
Killed in 1990 in Guatemala
Violating a cultural norm
sometimes carries serious
consequences.
Why do you think it is
important to understand the
risks ethnographers face in the
field?
Personal safety and academic
concerns.
• First. practical reasons: to inform future
ethnographers, thinking about strategies
(health issues, sexual harassment).
• Second. Academic reasons: methodological
and theoretical implications of danger on
the research process and its product.
How could dangerous
situations affect research?
consequences
• Danger can shape research agendas
• Danger of loosing perspective, becoming
too involved
Other dangers
• Not accepted in the community
• Manipulated for a particular end
• Family disintegration
Why do you think a great
number of anthropologists are
divorced?
Discussion questions
• What kinds of ethical and methodological
issues emerge from the practice of a researcher
collecting fieldwork data in a dangerous and
chaotic situation, which are, nonetheless,
relevant to a major research question?
• Can there be any risks (dangers) in your own
ethnographic projects?