There is a large and rapidly growing body of military studies in the area of Social Sciences. A survey done by Kurt Lang, almost 50 years ago, of studies carried out in the U.S. and Europe, recorded a significant 528 texts. More recently, particularly after the end of the Cold War, the number of studies on military and society has grown substantially in substance, size and impact. However, only a tiny part of this bibliography deals in-depth with the research methods used, especially in relation to qualitative methods. The data that form the basis of the researchers’ analyses are often presented as if they were immediately available, rather than as a product of interaction between the researcher and those who, along with the military institution, participated in the research and made it possible. This book aims to discuss issues related to this interaction, on the basis that this is essential in order to understand not only conditions in which research may have been done, but also the very nature of the data presented and of the final analysis. In other words, we assume that the conditions in which data is obtained are relevant to its very understanding. We believe that the researcher’s integration into the research context – in this case, the military institution – affects the process of obtaining data and, as a result, its analysis. How do researchers gain access to the military institution? What type of interaction do they establish with military personnel? How do they deal with the hierarchical world of the barracks? What happens when the researcher is a member of the military, or works for the institution as a civil servant? To what extent can gender differences affect interaction during research? How is the publication of the results received by the institution? These questions are approached from different points of view in the chapters that follow. The aim of this book is, therefore, much less to present the content and specific results that each author obtained in their work (although these are also to some extent necessarily present in the texts) and more to reflect on the conditions under which qualitative research methods are used and how they are carried out in the context of the military institution.

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• Ciências Físicas - Ciências Naturais