ABSTRACT
Risk and danger to the personal security of the researcher is an issue gaining greater
recognition within the social sciences (Renzetti and Lee 1993; Lawrinson and Harris
1994; Lee 1995). Renzetti and Lee (1993: 5), for example, emphasise that research can
be threatening to the researcher as well as the participants and that researchers may be
placed in situations in which their personal safety is jeopardised. However, to date
researchers encountering and negotiating danger in the conduct of studies have been
reliant on their own experience, judgement and common sense, a situation which is far
from ideal for funding bodies, academic institutions, grant holders or indeed for those
who actually conduct the fieldwork. Safeguards and precautions can be built into any
research strategy but more attention needs to be given to how this is done and how ad
hoc risk is dealt with in the field.
