Abstract:
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 researchquestions in certain
political climates.
