ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the research approach, detailing the actions taken to generate the empirical data. Relations with the research community are scrutinised and include motivations for participating and ethics of research payments; relations between the researcher, gatekeepers and the researched; and researcher positionality. The chapter also focuses on how communication and language affect engagement with the researched and how pre-formulated research questions may undermine the true interests of a social group. It explains how research participants are part of knowledge construction. The relation between personal identity and ethics is complex; the personal is an extremely important source of power, influence and authority. Migrants' lives are not just a product of individual actions that are constrained and positively affected by experiences and expectations; they are also determined, and often limited by, social structures. Researcher positionality is central to doing the research and for executing professional ethics. It involves the researcher being scrutinised by gatekeepers, research participants and other interested parties.
