The purpose of this paper is to argue that the use of legally and ethically dubious methods in ethnography can sometimes be justified in the pursuit of new knowledge. The paper offers reflections on the risks that participatory methods of enquiry can bring upon both researcher and research participants, particularly in terms of the physical and reputational risks that researchers must face when adopting ethnographic methods in unwelcoming research environments.,Ethnographic methods, specifically participant observation (PO), were adopted to penetrate a gang of criminal ticket touts in the UK through a gatekeeper who provided access to knowledge and experience.,Pushing the legal and ethical boundaries of research is not only justifiable, but sometimes necessary in the discovery of new, socially valuable and otherwise unobtainable knowledge. Ethnographic research and PO are the only methods through which it is possible to gauge an understanding and appreciation, and thus present a valid depiction, of deviant and hard to access groups. As such, the use of these methods can sometimes be justified, within certain parameters.,This research adopts ethnographic methods in the under-researched and topical area of black market ticket touting in the UK. Ethnography alone, through an “internal” understanding of the participants’ viewpoints, can reveal that much of what is discussed in the media and in Parliament is inaccurate. The paper builds on the existing literature on touting and on conducting illegal research, and offers reflections on why these methods can sometimes be justified.

中文翻译：

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在人种学中浏览法律和道德的灰色地带

本文的目的是争辩说，民族志中使用法律和道德上可疑的方法有时可以为追求新知识辩护。本文对参与式调查方法可能给研究人员和研究参与者带来的风险进行了思考，特别是在不受欢迎的研究环境中采用人种学方法时研究人员必须面对的物质和声誉风险。民族志方法，特别是参与者观察（PO）被用来通过提供知识和经验访问权的守门员渗透英国的一堆犯罪门票兜售者。推动研究的法律和道德界限不仅是合理的，而且有时在发现新事物时是必要的，具有社会价值和其他无法获得的知识。人种学研究和采购订单是唯一可以用来衡量对偏差和难以接近的群体的理解和赞赏，从而提出有效描述的唯一方法。因此，有时可以在一定参数范围内证明使用这些方法是合理的。本研究在英国对黑市售票市场进行了深入研究和研究的领域中，采用人种志方法。仅通过民族志学，通过对参与者观点的“内部”理解，就可以揭示出媒体和议会中讨论的许多内容都是不准确的。该论文建立在有关吹捧和进行非法研究的现有文献的基础上，并对为什么有时可以证明这些方法合理性提出了思考。