Enter or Not – How to Gain and Sustain Access to Research Sites

Identifying, gaining access to and negotiating a relationship with your research site/participants is crucial. This chapter provides advice on how to select your research site, start negotiations with them and manage your ongoing relationship. We outline a range of strategies to select and set up your research site, including utilising networks, social media and professional bodies. We then explore key questions of ethics approval, anonymity and identification of the site and people, data ownership, publishing permissions and legal agreements. We outline communication and risk strategies, and mitigation strategies that can be employed to ensure the research relationship is productive for both parties. There cannot be research without participants and this chapter gives you the knowledge to negotiate successful research relationships.