Systematic inquiry into barriers to researcher access: Evidence from a homeless shelter

Geographers using qualitative methods face numerous challenges, including barriers to access to the research setting that emerge through the interactions among the researcher's identity, participants, and the research setting itself However, few geographers have systematically traced, within a single research setting, (1) how barriers originate, (2) how they subsequently complicate the research enterprise, and (3) how they may potentially be overcome. Upon defining various generic barriers to access, I focus on the origins of, encounters with, and potential strategies to overcome two barriers ( factions and spatiotemporal limits) during my research experiences at the Palms Mission, an emergency shelter in Central Los Angeles. Ultimately, understanding the negotiation of these barriers informs the broader research process.