Issues of Access and Identity: Adapting Research Methods with Kampala Street Children

Summary

The issues of researcher access and identity are important ethical considerations when researching children. They are particularly significant when the children are a highly marginalized group such as those living on the street. Using research with street children in Kampala, Uganda, as an exemplar, this article explores the methodological issues associated with gaining access to street children and reducing the influence of the researcher’s `outsider’ identity, when undertaking sociospatial research. Through the adoption of a child-centred methodology and the adaptation of ethnographic, oral and visual methods, in conjunction with the children themselves, this article illustrates how meaningful results can be gleaned without the inhibitory effects of limited access and outsider influence.