Performing in situ research using ethnographic methods can offer new valuable insights into complex phenomena such as the linguistic revision and legal review of multilingual legislative drafts. At the same time, it entails reflections on the type of involvement of the researcher. In this chapter, I describe how my role in the research setting has evolved from outside researcher to partial insider and eventually to full member. In particular, I illustrate the benefits and risks associated with my becoming an insider. To conclude, I challenge the dichotomy of insider versus outsider; I argue that it is, first and foremost, crucial for the researcher to be transparent about their positionality and to consciously apply strategies to manage related benefits and risks.
Cornelia Staudinger (Wed,) studied this question.