Within criminology, the corporate world remains an under researched domain. In this article, we give an overview of research on corporations and try to look for reasons why this remains a niche in criminology. We argue that this is partly related to the fact that choosing corporations as the focal point of research implies quite a few methodological problems. Several authors warn researchers about studying companies or corporations, for multiple reasons: traditional research methods are
more difficult to apply; the private sector is not willing to cooperate as they wish to avoid reputational risks – unless they have an interest in cooperation; gaining access to the field is rather difficult; criminologists are unfamiliar with the corporate world (in comparison with their knowledge of police- or judicial services); criminologists have a hard time adapting to the jargon, they are not aware of the
internal mechanisms within corporations (the ‘ins and outs’), and they lack the background for understanding corporate culture. On the other hand, provided that they are willing to invest time and effort, criminologists can learn the corporate language and become skilled at finding the way in the world of business and enterprise. In this article, the problems of researching organisations will be analysed and we will look for ways to tackle these problems, by analysing the methodology earlier
research has applied in the study of corporations. Furthermore, we will discuss the methodology used in our current research on the application of antimoney laundering legislation by financial organisations. We conclude by estab-lishing that earlier research has shown that the criminological tunnel vision actually can and should be broadened.