Sitting In front of Authority Outside the Courtroom: Memoires from a Field Research among Judges in Istanbul.

Before starting a field research, the researcher has certain expectations from the field which are not always realized. The researcher is immediately faced with the reality that the field has a life of its own and certain rules and dynamics which demand recognition by the outsider. Throughout the whole interaction with the field, the researcher finds her expectations to be re-defined in light of what the field has to offer. Redefinition of expectations is not necessarily an indication of a deficiency on part of the researcher because pre-set aspirations are not met. On the contrary, it enlightens the researcher about the latent face of the field, about its backdoor. This experience with the field ultimately allows the researcher to question her own assumptions, her own tools, her own know-hows. This paper is a product of the experiences a team of researchers has faced during a year long field research for a project on the criminal legal aid service in Turkey. Getting permission from the Ministry of Justice to conduct research at the courts, the researchers hit the road, thinking that the piece of paper in their hands will be enough to reviews the files. Soon to find out that the paper is just a formality, and the real challenge begins when they find out they have to talk to each and individual judge to get their permission. This is the journey of these researchers, trying to display not only what it takes to do research in courts but also to show how the researcher learns to situate herself with respect to authority through which the boundaries surrounding "law and courts" are shaped. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]