Covert research is an investigative strategy in which the researcher’s professional identity and academic intentions are hidden, either partially or fully, from those involved in the study. Therefore, research is con- ducted without the knowledge or consent of those being studied. Although the use of covert research is increasingly frowned on, it remains an important qual- itative research strategy in studies where opportunities to provide detailed explanations of the research or gain informed consent are limited. This entry outlines the different forms of covert research, discusses the advantages of using it as a research strategy, and con- siders the limitations of covert research and the chal- lenges its use presents.
Types of Covert Research
It is possible to distinguish between active and passive forms of covert research. Arguably, the distinction between the two forms is meaningless because, in both cases, participants do not contribute willingly to the study. However, active forms of covert research are often more problematic than passive forms because Covert Research———133
deceit is such a fundamental part of fieldwork rela- tionships. When conducting active forms of covert research, investigators may purposefully obscure their identities and intentionally misrepresent their motiva- tions for engaging in social interaction. For example, a researcher may participate in the activities of a reli- gious organization as a member of the congrega- tion, or may join a commercial organization as an employee, while actually conducting research on the organization and its members. Most of the prominent and controversial covert research has involved this type of subterfuge. However, researchers may gain access to a group or an individual overtly and still conduct covert research. For example, an investigator can claim to be conducting research on one subject area while secretly using contact time with partici- pants to ask questions, observe activities, and/or gain access to documents that are unrelated to the study to which participants agreed to contribute.
Passive forms of covert research are also conducted without the knowledge or consent of those being stud- ied, but investigators do not attempt to deceive or mis- lead participants. Traditionally, the most common example of this type of covert research has involved observation of social and physical activity in public places such as shopping malls, parks, restaurants, cafes, and bars. However, with the growth of virtual commu- nities, studies of interaction and communications in internet chat rooms and through electronic message boards are increasing. Investigators may observe and monitor the online interaction of other participants but choose not to contribute or provide a formal explana- tion of their research. Researchers may also use nonre- active methods to gain information about individuals.
For example, an investigator may interview one person as a way to get information about a second individual or group of people, or a researcher may examine records kept on people by organizations without the consent of the individuals concerned.
Passive forms of covert research often emerge because of particular contextual aspects of the field- work rather than a need for deception or subterfuge.
For example, when conducting observational research in places where interaction between people is mini- mal, especially in places that people inhabit for short periods, the offer of any detailed explanation or the gaining of formal consent is unfeasible. Furthermore, when a researcher tries to gain access to a group or community without the help of a formal gatekeeper who could introduce the researcher and mediate his or her entry, the researcher’s identity and intentions will
inevitably remain hidden from certain members of that group.
Time is also a key factor that determines researchers’ ability to provide formal explanations and gain informed consent. The initial stages of research projects concerned with loosely connected individuals, or groups with fluid membership, are often conducted covertly because opportunities for explanation and consent are limited. However, as investigators gain access to individuals and spend increasing amounts of time with participants and informants, details about their professional identities and research intentions become increasingly clear. This is not to say that the research will become completely overt; in these kinds of studies, researchers continue to engage with new individuals who are not acquainted with the studies and for whom they remain covert research.
Advantages of Covert Research When people are aware that their actions are being observed, recorded, and scrutinized, they often change their behaviors. Individuals may act in socially accepted ways and purposefully abide by social con- ventions that they usually reject. People may also behave in extraordinary ways and choose to over- or underemphasize certain actions and, thus, project a misleading impression of their identities and the values they hold. Therefore, investigators most often choose to engage in covert research to ensure that par- ticipants do not change their behaviors significantly;
they may engage in covert research to try to gain a more authentic impression of people and their worlds.
Covert methods are used mostly in studies con- cerned with individuals who engage in what are con- ventionally perceived to be morally contentious or illegal activities. Such individuals and the groups or organizations with which they are affiliated often do not wish to draw attention to their activities and, therefore, are unlikely to participate consensually in research that jeopardizes their interests. So, investiga- tors may presume that, to gain access to individuals and obtain information about their activities, it is nec- essary to conduct the study covertly. If participants are not aware that their actions are being researched, they are less likely to deviate from their normal behaviors.
Thus, researchers can gain insights into social prac- tices that are usually hidden from public view.
Beginning a relationship with informants or participants is often difficult. The esoteric nature of qualitative research means that initial encounters with 134———Covert Research
potential participants can often be made awkward and tense by any attempt to explain the study. Individuals may immediately withdraw from interaction when an investigator mentions that he or she is conducting research. If this happens, there might not be further opportunities to interact with people who decide that they do not want to communicate with the researcher.
In covert research, these problems are avoided and, within that social context, social interaction can remain ongoing. By disguising his or her identity, the researcher can gain informants’ trust faster and, con- sequently, get access to information faster. This is likely to be particularly important when researchers do not have extended periods of time in which to con- duct fieldwork and there is not enough time to build formal and open relationships slowly between investi- gators and participants or informants.
Challenges in Using Covert Research Covert research is, arguably, an abuse of investigators’
powerful position. It is certainly true that unwilling par- ticipants do not have control over representations of their lives. This problem is likely to emerge in all but the most participative studies; however, in studies involving covert research, the potential powerlessness of participants is even more acute. Therefore, investiga- tors must think carefully about the responsibilities they have to the individuals, groups, and organizations they study and about how social science serves or under- mines the interests of particular sections of society. In many cases, covert research is an invasion of privacy, and many people find this objectionable unless there is a reasonable justification for it. Justification is usually based on arguments about the greater social good that such research serves. However, although some individ- uals and organizations present a clear and immediate risk to society, what social benefits are achieved through covert research and whether they are worth the cost to personal freedom and privacy are often con- tentious issues. There is certainly a risk that marginal groups and individuals who are studied feel even more stigmatized and, thus, are marginalized even further. In the cases of criminal groups and religious organiza- tions, this will make its members even more suspicious of social science and encourage them to withdraw fur- ther from the legal and moral conventions of society.
The deception involved in covert research is prob- lematic for research participants. Unwilling partici- pants may feel deceived, and this may, in turn, taint their relationships with strangers in the future. It may
also make them suspicious of research, thereby fueling a perception that all social scientists are untrustworthy and that social science research is fun- damentally exploitative. This may make it difficult for researchers to recruit participants in the future.
There is also a significant risk to investigators who engage in covert research. By adopting alternative identities and roles in the fieldwork, researchers may begin to question their own sense of self. This is espe- cially problematic when conducting research on immoral or illegal activities. Trust between under- cover investigators and the individuals who engage in illicit activities is often built through researchers’
complicity. These acts may conflict with researchers’
own sense of morality, and this may in itself cause psychological harm to researchers. Participation in illegal activities may result in prosecution, and (more seriously) some action may result in harm to researchers or other individuals. For example, those conducting research on fraud, theft, violence, or sex crimes, and who are expected (as part of the study) to participate in these activities in any way, are caught in a very perilous moral, legal, and professional position.
From a methodological point of view, the advan- tages of gaining access to previously hidden informa- tion is offset by the limitation placed on researchers trying to gain access to key pieces of data. When adopt- ing a totally covert role, investigators must act within the boundaries of that role. Asking too many questions or probing questions that are inappropriate in a social context may make individuals suspicious of investiga- tors. Therefore, researchers are limited in what they can find out, when they can find it out, and how they can get to specific pieces of information. Because of this, covert research may be more time-consuming than overt research and may offer only limited information on specific issues that cannot be explored with partici- pants through everyday social interaction.
Finally, academic institutions and the organizations that fund research are increasingly concerned with the ethics of research. Most academic institutions have developed, or are in the process of developing, ethical guidelines that define how research is to be conducted.
Most of these institutions also have systems of review that evaluate the ethical dimensions of research con- ducted by affiliated staff. Support among funding bodies and host institutions for covert research that involves active deception is declining. Fear of legal prosecution, negative publicity, and any subsequent cut in funding has made organizations wary of becoming associated with such research.
Covert Research———135
Investigators preparing to engage in active forms of covert research must be clear about the risks involved;
they need to carefully evaluate the benefits of covert research and must be prepared to justify its use.
Investigators working in social or organizational con- texts where explanation and informed consent are not possible, or those conducting research in contexts where relationships are built slowly and covertness is unavoidable at certain stages of their studies, must draw on a number of points of reference in deciding how to approach the emerging problems. When deciding on the appropriateness of covert research, investigators must consider the professional and institutional guide- lines and the legal implications of their actions, they must draw on the past experiences of other researchers, and they must examine reflexively their own moral and ethical positions before entering the field.
Peter Lugosi
See alsoDeception; Ethics; Naturalistic Observation;
Nonparticipant Observation; Participant Observation;
Unobtrusive Research
Further Readings
Bulmer, M. (Ed.). (1982).Social research ethics: An examination of the merits of covert participant observation.London: Macmillan.
Herrera, C. D. (1999). Two arguments for “covert research” in social research.British Journal of Sociology, 50,331–341.
Herrera, C. D. (2003). A clash of methodology and ethics in
“undercover” social science.Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 33,351–362.
Hilbert, R. A. (1980). Covert participant observation: “On its nature and practice.”Urban Life, 9(1), 51–78.
Homan, R. (1991).The ethics of social research.London:
Macmillan.
Lauder, M. (2003). Covert participant observation: Justifying the use of deception.Journal of Contemporary Religion, 18,185–196.
Lugosi, P. (2006). Between overt and covert research:
Concealment and revelation in an ethnographic study of commercial hospitality.Qualitative Inquiry, 12,541–561.
Punch, M. (1994). Politics and ethics in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.),Handbook of
qualitative research(pp. 83–97). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.