la trastienda de la investigación: el estudio de prácticas corruptas

Abstract

The article describes a research on practices and social actors that middle class residents of Buenos Aires City (Argentina) categorize as corrupted. Its purpose is to show the difference between a study of the distribution and incidence of corruption on social and economic affairs (the so called objective measurement) and one that from a subjective perspective describes corruption and evaluates its consequences for democracy. The difference between these types of studies is not only theoretical but it is also methodological. The cover project Corruption, Democracy and Economic Development included a set of articulated and complementary studies of which only two are described in this article. First, a random sample survey among middle class residents of Buenos Aires; and second, a series of open interviews with entrepreneurs and university trained professionals, all of them with a long experience in activities of the public and private sectors. The article reflects on methodological decisions taken during the development of the project; includes analyses of data and an annex describing the studies that form part of the project.