What is the best way to capture and account for the independent sector of the cultural economy, given that it operates in significantly different ways from the formal economy? While economic impact studies have provided one answer to this question, this article proposes in their stead an ethnographic study of the cultural economy which would uncover the often hidden, temporary and spontaneous features of the sector. Such an ethnographic approach to economic issues is identified as one way in which research designs and strategies can be made appropriate to the specificities of the cultural sector. Such an approach can help illuminate the dynamics of creativity and highlight the practical, everyday nature of work and employment in the cultural sector. It can also help to focus attention on the importance of informal economic and cultural processes which tend to be hidden from view when there is an economic outcomes-based focus.
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