ABSTRACT
The problem of obtaining access to data often looms large in ethnography. While the problem of gaining access arises most obviously at the start of research, it continues, to one degree or another, throughout the data collection process. Gaining access to the necessary data is an ongoing practical achievement. Achieving access is not merely a practical concern. The discovery of obstacles to access, and of effective means of overcoming them, itself provides insights into the social organization of the setting, or the orientations of the people being researched. Of course, negotiating access also involves ethical considerations, for example to do with whose permission ought to be requested, aside from whose permission needs to be obtained if initial access is to be possible. A variety of initial strategies may be adopted in seeking access, varying according to the nature of the setting and people in which one is interested.
