Seeking to illustrate the social processes involved in the research task of “gaining access” to a specific empirical context (a company), this paper suggests the use of narratives as analytical anchors to explore the social relations maintained with and within the companies taken as a case, in the context of intensive, qualitative research projects. A doctoral research project is used as reference, a project punctuated by field access constraints and reluctant gatekeeping relations, unplanned research circumstances that implied the continuous negotiation of the research overall feasibility conditions. The plausibility of using narratives to illustrate the social relations that embed research projects involving “sensitive topics” and reluctant gatekeepers is questioned. It is argued that the use of narratives in these research contexts can represent a gain for the research process itself: a gain of visibility and chance to scrutinize empirical observation procedures and “gaining access” issues as reflexive experiences.

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Qualitative research,Field access,Gatekeeping,Narrative analysis,Reflexivity