269 Field Challenges in Researching Contentious Politics: Reflections of a Qualitative Researcher DOI: https://doi.org/10.31920/2516-5305/2023/20n1a13 Edmore Ntini School of Built Environment and Development Studies, Department of Community Development, Howard College, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa. Telephone: +27 064 809 0878 (Anytime)/ +27 31 260 2289 (Business hours). E-mail: eddiemza@gmail.com Abstract Too often, researchers are more concerned with the methodology of their study and the report. Several aspects of their research are relegated to hygienic factors supporting the solutions to the research problem. Challenges experienced in the course of data collection receive little attention. This paper is a “narrative and reflective description” of problems experienced by a qualitative researcher while conducting a study of contentious politics in the relationship between International Nongovernmental Organisations (INGOs) and an authoritarian state. Nine challenges are described, namely; the sensitivity of the study, the challenges of field access and its preservation, knowledge deficiency claims, tricky interview venues, absentee participants, data insecurity, methodological challenges, and ethical challenges. In each of these, they describe the lessons learned. Keywords: Contentious politics, security agents, elite interviews, absentee participants, political control. African Renaissance ISSN: 1744-2532 (Print) ISSN: 2516-5305 (Online) Indexed by: SCOPUS, IBSS, EBSCO, COPERNICUS, ERIH PLUS, ProQuest, J-Gate and Sabinet Vol. 20, (No. 1), March 2023 pp 269-290