ABSTRACT
A police officer’s sceptical view of academics validates their “blue code of silence”, which refers to an unwillingness to speak to outsiders about police-related issues (Skolnick, 2002). The “code” places qualitative researchers like me in a difficult position. If I want to gather accurate data about police officers’ experiences, I must first earn the trust of reluctant respondents by replacing their impression of me as a “spy” with an impression of me as an “intensely sympathetic chronicler” (Fine, 1993). While there are many strategies a researcher can use to create a favourable impression of themselves, the strategy that I rely on involves deceptively presenting myself as a “buddy researcher” (Snow et al., 1986). In the current chapter, I draw on my experiences with reluctant respondents to address an ethical critique of my deceptive buddy researcher tactics.
