Covert Research by David Calvey

Author:David Calvey [Calvey, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Research, Reference
ISBN: 9781473954922
Google: BVsCDgAAQBAJ
Publisher: SAGE
Published: 2017-03-20T05:23:02+00:00

I presented myself not only as a paying customer but also as either the girlfriend or friend of male escort(s) to observe naturally occurring interactions and club routines. … At each site, I assumed the role of the naïve stranger to blend in with the crowd as much as possible by looking and acting much like the typical woman customer. (2005: 775)

Trautner interestingly argues that ‘the drawback’ of her covert position was her ‘lack of insight into the club employees’ thoughts and feelings toward, and explanations of, the routines in which they participate’ (2005: 775). Trautner analyses sexuality in the strip clubs according to images of attractiveness, stage performances and tipping practices.

Egan (2006) studies the strategic use of music by dancers in two exotic dance clubs in the New England area of the United States. For her, musical choice mediates the interaction between the female dancers and both management and the clientele. The ethnographic research was prolonged and completed over a four-year period, which included Egan working as a dancer in one of the clubs. She did interview both dancers and customers, but her approach had clear and deliberate covert elements. On this, Egan reflects: ‘My position as a researcher within both ethnographic settings was semi-covert in two respects: one, I did not inform the owners that I was a researcher; two, I did not inform every customer with whom I came into contact that I was a researcher’ (2006: 204–205).

Barton (2007) made observational visits to a range of exotic dance clubs, strip bars and peep shows in San Francisco and Hawaii over a twelve-month period. Her initial challenge was gaining entry into the venues as most clubs in the United States have rules preventing unescorted females from entering. She thus had to collaboratively negotiate entry ‘with the assistance of male friends and the trust of dancer informants’ (2007: 575).

While covertly being in the setting, Barton was regularly approached with ‘sexual interest’ by customers, although she managed the situation with ‘polite refusals’. Barton discusses the emotionally taxing nature of such a covert research role and her own sexual politics as a lesbian, which made her shift from covert observations to interviews in the latter parts of the fieldwork. As she states: ‘My own notes attest to how intensely uneasy I was in strip clubs, how objectified I felt simply being in the space’ (2007: 578). Barton wanted to understand the mechanisms used by the dancers to cope with the toll of stripping, including managing persona and counterfeit intimacy. She sensibly calls for further studies on a wide range of sex workers, including prostitutes, pornography actors, internet performers and phone sex workers.

Lap dancing is a growth industry in the United Kingdom, as in other parts of the world, and is now a typical feature of the night-time economy of many major cities in the western world. Despite this, the dancers are maligned occupationally, politically and publicly, which somewhat parallels the treatment of bouncers and bouncing. Rachela Colosi, in Dirty Dancing? An Ethnography of Lap Dancing (2010b), provides an insightful semi-covert study of this subculture.

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