ABSTRACT
The practices involved in gaining access to and retaining one’s place within research
settings are often works of astonishing emotional magnitude: the role playing, the
management of others, the presentation of ourselves. However, where they are
mentioned, emotional issues are often objectified into the more easily identifiable and
clearly defined reflexive bit in the ‘methods section’. In order to be useful to other
researchers, emotional accounts need to be discussed as data and in relation to the
generally unspoken emotion rules of the setting under investigation. When we begin to
question the reasons we felt welcomed, distanced or angry and how this response
compared to the way we expected to feel, a greater degree of understanding of how
others experience the setting often emerges. There is also insight to be gained in the
comparison between participants’ emotional responses and our own, as we encounter
people with different emotional rules and reactions that challenge our taken-for-
granted attitudes.
