In the introduction to this book, I identified that past studies of fan production have often adopted an ethnographic approach, the work of Jenkins (1992b) and Bacon-Smith (1992) being specific examples. Other studies of fan cultures have been critical of this, questioning the role of the ethnographer within the culture that they are investigating (Meehan, 2000). The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to this debate on researching fan cultures, by introducing a method of data collection that I refer to as ‘combined ethnography’. This can be used to investigate how fans produce artefacts and commodities in an alternative economy, as well as avoiding celebratory accounts of fandom, which I earlier discussed. The previous chapter acknowledged how production that takes place in an alternative economy, such as fan enterprise, often transgresses rules and regulations, making it legally problematic. The approach I suggest in this chapter responds to this issue and its associated ethical implications. I begin the chapter by critically reviewing how past studies of fandom have used ethnography. I then introduce and describe the combined ethnography model, demonstrating how it is a response to the limitations of past fan ethnographies, and indicating why it is useful in researching fan enterprise. Following this, I describe how I used the method to research the alternative economy of European cult cinema fan enterprise. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of the ethical issues encountered and the challenges this presents for the researcher.

A (fan) ethnographic approach

Early studies of fandom commonly utilized the method of ethnography to interrogate fan communities.