Negotiating Methodological Dilemmas in a Range of Chilly Climates: A story of pressures,principles and problems

This article discusses methodological, ethical and material issues related to the author's work on a qualitative, longitudinal research project, the 12 to 18 Project. It discusses the difficulty of balancing concerns about reactivity with concerns about obligations to the research subjects; the effects of the current Australian university funding regime on the shaping and conduct of research; and the difficulty of taking up particular research questions in certain political climates.