Negotiating from the inside - Constructing racial and ethnic identity in qualitative research

This article provides a critical analysis of the role of the "insider" rese archer in qualitative fieldwork in race and ethnicity. The analysis is base d on research conducted on the construction of racial and ethnic identity i n the Cape Verdean American community of southeastern New England. Reflecti ons are presented on the various ways that the researcher's status as an "i nsider" was evaluated and negotiated during fieldwork. It is suggested that these negotiations reveal the manner in which group members define the bou ndaries of the group, the attributes they associate with it, and the meanin g of the group itself: This interpretation of insider status, as involving complex and ongoing definitions and negotiations of group membership, highl ights the way that researchers and participants are simultaneously engaged in the construction of race and ethnicity.