Bulletin of Sociological Methodology/Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique

Fieldwork accounts involve a certain amount of self-staging, often intertwined with a self-analytical or reflexive dimension. However, the principle of truthfulness expected from such narratives conflicts with two key imperatives that limit its scope: demonstrating competence and appearing beyond reproach. The degree of reflexivity thus varies depending on the specific situation and characteristics of each researcher at a given time, but also on the political and moral state of society and the academic world. After providing a historical overview of the main existing approaches, I will outline the circumstances that led me to a certain level of self-disclosure, more calculated and misleading than it may seem, regarding investigations with a strong personal involvement: nomadic populations, activists from the National Front, and a dear friend named Martial. I report the rhetorical subterfuges I employed: omitting my homosexuality and its various consequences in the course of the research, keeping quiet about dreams of revenge after a nunchaku attack, and saying nothing either of seduction or desire, or the anxiety of violence. I also show how, with time, age and a more secure professional standing, I have made use of information about myself that was meaningful for analysis, and yet painful to reveal.

Cet article propose une réflexion sur une enquête menée auprès de jeunes rura·les·ux sans diplôme à partir d’une position biographique de « transfuge » marqué par la haine et la honte de son milieu d’origine. En retraçant une trajectoire familiale traversée par la pauvreté, la violence et les stigmates de « cas social », l’auteur montre comment les affects (haine, dégoût, culpabilité, désir de distinction) structurent à la fois les rapports populaires à la respectabilité et le regard du chercheur. L’enquête de terrain (entretiens biographiques, observation en Mission Locale et dispositifs d’insertion) devient un laboratoire où se rejouent ces tensions, révélant les effets méthodologiques de la proximité sociale, du travail émotionnel et des tentatives de « rendre justice » aux enquêté·e·s. En assumant une réflexivité située, le texte défend l’idée que la haine intériorisée de son propre milieu peut être transformée en ressource analytique, à condition d’objectiver les conditions sociales et affectives de production du savoir et de penser l’écriture scientifique comme un lieu de mise en forme, plutôt que d’effacement, de ces conflits intimes.

Cet article propose un retour réflexif sur les conditions de réalisation d’une enquête de terrain qualitative et ethnographique conduite dans le cadre d’une recherche doctorale menée dans un territoire frontalier amazonien. En partant du constat que les enquêtes de terrain exigent bricolage, ajustements et souplesse, cet article dévoile les non-dits des carnets de terrain de la jeune chercheure, qu’ils concernent la place de ses émotions ou ses négociations dans sa relation au terrain et aux personnes enquêtées. Si la littérature méthodologique reconnaît aujourd’hui l’importance des imprévus, elle demeure lacunaire concernant la manière dont les chercheur·es, et en particulier les jeunes chercheur·es, vivent concrètement l’entrée sur le terrain et la gestion des émotions dans les relations avec les personnes enquêtées. Or ces éléments incarnent des dimensions méthodologiques, scientifiques et éthiques centrales dans les recherches compréhensives et sensibles.

This article explores the methodological and ethical challenges of a study on adult live streaming based on web scraping. The analysis focuses on two moments defined by what remains unspoken, revealing latent tensions within the social sciences, particularly regarding sensitive digital fields. The first part examines the infrastructural politics of data: the (relative) failure to build a legitimate dataset highlights the frictions between GDPR requirements and institutional constraints, which act as invisible regulators of scientific activity. The second part addresses the embodied experience of research, analysing the emotional toll of engaging with pornographic content and the ethical bricolage implemented by researchers to cope with it. These difficulties, often left unaddressed, weigh heavily on early-career researchers, as the pressures of professional integration lead to the strategic omission of the most problematic aspects of their research. In conclusion, the article argues that these obstacles are not biases but objects of analysis, essential for understanding the heteronomy of scientific activity and the acclimatisation of digital methods within sociology.

From lies by omission to immersive investigation. A study within a paramilitary camp. Based on an immersive study conducted in a paramilitary camp for “youth” from working-class neighbourhoods, this article questions the ambiguous status of ethnographers in their fieldwork. The author revisits the circumstances that led her to be perceived, in a somewhat unplanned manner, as a full member of the supervisory team rather than as an observing sociologist. By highlighting the dilemmas created by this position and its heuristic contributions, the article raises the tensions that exist between ethical and scientific requirements. It demonstrates that the immersion resulting from the ambiguity of the researcher’s status allowed for a deeper understanding of the subject of study, despite the emotional and methodological difficulties caused by the omission of some of her scientific objectives and political views.

This article explores the methodological and ethical dilemmas encountered during an ethnographic study of Kurdish women combatants affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), conducted in a context shaped by war, clandestinity, and militant logics. Grounded in immersive fieldwork both in the guerrilla strongholds and within the Kurdish diaspora, the analysis focuses on the unspoken: those silences that emerge through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and everyday interactions. The inquiry is structured around a dual question: what do the silences of the interlocutors reveal, and what do the researcher’s own silences signify? As part of a PhD dissertation, this research adopts a feminist and reflexive stance, mobilizing the framework of “reflexive openness” (Jacobs et al., 2021), complemented by the concept of “motivated omission,” introduced here as both an analytical tool and an ethical principle. This concept allows for a recognition of deliberate silence, whether voluntary or constrained, as a gesture of care and protection. Far from being mere absences, these silences are treated as substantive data, reflecting tensions between loyalty, vulnerability, and representational stakes. The article identifies and analyzes three primary forms of unsaid: those rooted in the subjectivity of the participants (modesty, pain, and strategic silence), those shaped by organizational or militant constraints, and those tied to the intimate experience of war and violence. It also considers the researcher’s own silences, shaped by her positionality as a Kurdish woman, a witness, and an involved outsider. Within this framework, ethics is not a fixed normative system, but rather a situated practice of managing silence: an ongoing negotiation between transparency, safety, and fidelity to lived experience. Ultimately, this study highlights the productive role of silence in conflict research settings, while calling for critical awareness of the tendency to idealize, or fetishize, women fighters. It advocates for a situated, sensitive, and humble approach to research, one in which silence, at times, speaks as meaningfully as words