We present spectroscopic observations of ESO 184 - G82 , the host galaxy of GRB 980425/SN 1998bw , and six galaxies in its field .
A host redshift of z = 0.0087 \pm 0.0006 is derived , consistent with that measured by .
Redshifts are obtained for the six surrounding galaxies observed .
Three of these galaxies lie within 11 Mpc of each other , confirming the suggestion that some of these galaxies form a group .
However , all of the field galaxies observed lie at significantly greater distances than ESO 184 - G82 and are therefore not associated with it .
The host galaxy of GRB 980425/SN 1998bw thus appears to be an isolated dwarf galaxy and interactions with other galaxies do not seem to be responsible for its star formation .