ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on some of the methodological challenges encountered over a three-year period in the conduct of two research projects on refugees and on recent migrants, exploring issues in relation to objectivity, trust and the ‘hard to reach’. The first1 was a thirty-two-month HE-ESF project exploring the barriers experienced by refugees in their routes into employment, to understand what the factors were that caused refugees to have poor labour market outcomes. As part of this research we also produced a short film, All by myself2. The second3 was a twelve-month project, funded by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and its aims were to determine whether recent migrants to the UK were at greater risk in relation to their health and safety at work than were local workers. The chapter begins by noting that there is a wide body of literature looking at methodological issues related to research into the working lives and experiences of refugees and recent migrants, much of it emphasising the importance of using an appropriate methodology. However, it suggests that while the choice of method is important, it is crucial not to be trapped into one methodology but to remain open to different methods, as ‘ultimately the choice of data collection modes will depend on the aims of the research, the research questions, the available resources, timescales and the characteristics of the survey population’ (Bloch, 2007: 14). Thus, there is the need to maintain a flexible approach; to know as much as possible about the survey population prior to fieldwork; and to think carefully about the extent to which personal data are required. The latter is important not only because inquiry into the personal may be experienced as intrusive, but also because the collection of personal data from research subjects, whose legal status may be problematic, must be handled in a particularly sensitive and secure way. The chapter reflects on the context in which research is conducted, both in terms of the politicisation of migration and also in relation to the theoretical positions and experiences of the researchers themselves. Finally, the chapter looks at the issue of how to sustain trust relationships with research subjects, particularly in the conduct of longitudinal research and in the use of visual methods.
