ABSTRACT

This article reflects on the effect of gatekeepers, guides and ghosts on gaining access to research participants and field sites. Using a critically reflective approach, we examine our role as researchers and the roles of intermediaries in the process to access schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings show how gaining access is a non-linear process that is influenced by the agency of researchers and intermediaries at different contextual levels. Our analysis probes past research on gatekeepers, develops the emerging research on the role of guides and advances current understandings by introducing the concept of ghosts. Given the lack of detailed, contextualised accounts on how researchers gain access to schools during or after a crisis, our experiences add to current understandings by providing an ‘on the ground’ account on how research can be stymied or end with mixed results when it is viewed as a difficult undertaking.

摘要

本文反映了看门人、向导和幽灵对接触研究参与者和实地考察地点的影响。使用批判性反思的方法，我们检查了我们作为研究人员的角色以及中介在 COVID-19 大流行期间进入学校的过程中的角色。我们的研究结果表明，获取访问权限是一个非线性过程，受不同背景级别的研究人员和中介机构的影响。我们的分析探讨了过去对守门人的研究，发展了关于向导作用的新兴研究，并通过引入鬼魂的概念来推进当前的理解。鉴于缺乏关于研究人员在危机期间或之后如何进入学校的详细、背景化的描述，