Social access in the workplace: are ethnographers gossips?

Abstract

This article is intended as a contribution to our understanding of what it means to gain and retain ‘social access’ in workplace ethnography, in particular examining the role of gossip. Several difficulties encountered in attempting to gain such access within a health care setting are analysed – these difficulties having arisen after formal, physical access had been successfully negotiated. The analysis reveals the importance of participation in workplace gossip and the length of time spent in the field as facilitators of social access. The implications of participating in gossip are discussed in relation to the ethics of ethnographic methodology, in particular drawing a distinction from qualitative interviews.