The Dual Imperative in Refugee Research: Some Methodological and Ethical Considerations in Social Science Research on Forced Migration
01 Sep 2003-Disasters (Inter-University Committee on International Migration)-Vol. 27, Iss: 3, pp 185-206
TL;DR: While there is no single 'best practice' for refugee research, refugee studies would advance its academic and policy relevance by more seriously considering methodological and ethical concerns, this paper identifies some key methodological andethical problems confronting social scientists studying forced migrants or their hosts.
Abstract: Social scientists doing fieldwork in humanitarian situations often face a dual imperative: research should be both academically sound and policy relevant. We argue that much of the current research on forced migration is based on unsound methodology, and that the data and subsequent policy conclusions are often flawed or ethically suspect. This paper identifies some key methodological and ethical problems confronting social scientists studying forced migrants or their hosts. These problems include non-representativeness and bias, issues arising from working in unfamiliar contexts including translation and the use of local researchers, and ethical dilemmas including security and confidentiality issues and whether researchers are doing enough to 'do no harm'. The second part of the paper reviews the authors' own efforts to conduct research on urban refugees in Johannesburg. It concludes that while there is no single 'best practice' for refugee research, refugee studies would advance its academic and policy relevance by more seriously considering methodological and ethical concerns.
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TL;DR: It is demonstrated how careful use of SSM as a ‘second best’ but still valuable methodology can help generate cooperation and make the difference between research conducted under constrained conditions and research not conducted at all.
Abstract: Conducting research in conflict environments is a challenge, given their complexity and common attitudes of distrust and suspicion. Yet, conflict and methodology are usually analyzed as separate fields of interest. Methodological aspects of field work in conflict environments have not been systematically analyzed. This article addresses the central methodological problems of research conducted in conflict environments. We suggest the use of the snowball sampling method (hereafter, SSM) as an answer to these challenges. The effectiveness of this method has been recognized as significant in a variety of cases, mainly regarding marginalized populations. We claim that in conflict environments, the entire population is marginalized to some degree, making it ‘hidden’ from and ‘hard to reach’ for the outsider researcher. The marginalization explains why it is difficult to locate, access and enlist the cooperation of the research populations, which in a non-conflict context would not have been difficult to do. SS...
567 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight some of the central ethical challenges involved in undertaking social science research with refugees in conflict and crisis situations, focusing on two main sets of challenges: first the difficulties of constructing an ethical consent process and obtaining genuinely informed consent; and second taking fully into account and responding to refugee participants capacities for autonomy.
Abstract: This paper highlights some of the central ethical challenges involved in undertaking social science research with refugees in conflict and crisis situations. It focuses on two main sets of challenges: first the difficulties of constructing an ethical consent process and obtaining genuinely informed consent; and second taking fully into account and responding to refugee participants capacities for autonomy. The authors also discuss the challenges involved in applying the central normative principles governing ethics review processes-the principles of beneficence integrity respect for persons autonomy and justice-to the context of refugee research. It is argued that researchers should seek ways to move beyond harm minimization as a standard for ethical research and recognize an obligation to design and conduct research projects that aim to bring about reciprocal benefits for refugee participants and/or communities. Some of the methodological issues raised by this analysis are discussed in the conclusion. (authors)
436 citations
264 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that political inaction, as well as action can be used as a means of control, and argue that the management of refugees as a series of violent inactions has given way to necropolitical brutality.
Abstract: A significant outcome of the global crisis for refugees has been the abandonment of forced migrants to live in makeshift camps inside the EU. This paper details how state authorities have prevented refugees from surviving with formal provision, leading directly to thousands having to live in hazardous spaces such as the informal camp in Calais, the site of this study. We then explore the violent consequences of this abandonment. By bringing together thus far poorly integrated literatures on bio/necropolitics (Michel Foucault; Achille Mbembe) and structural violence (Johan Galtung), we retheorize the connections between deliberate political indifference towards refugees and the physiological violence they suffer. In framing the management of refugees as a series of violent inactions, we demonstrate how the biopolitics of migrant control has given way to necropolitical brutality. Advancing geographies of violence and migration, the paper argues that political inaction, as well as action, can be used as a means of control.
244 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined research ethics in the context of refugees and other vulnerable groups and argued that the ancient idea of seeking to "do no harm" that continues to be a key principle in the refugee field is insufficient to ensure ethically sound research practice.
Abstract: Ethics in social work research increasingly recognises that the rights and interests of subjects must be primary. The principal aim is to ensure that the subjects of research are protected from harm that might result from their participation in the research. In this article, research ethics are examined in the context of refugees and other vulnerable groups. It is argued that the ancient idea of seeking to ‘do no harm’ that continues to be a key principle in the refugee field, while necessary, is insufficient to ensure ethically sound research practice. A more sophisticated approach is required in research with such groups in order to ensure that social work’s ethical responsibilities are realised. This article discusses a model of participatory research as a vehicle for developing research ethics in social work.
217 citations
References
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TL;DR: For instance, King, Keohane, Verba, and Verba as mentioned in this paper have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive and causal inference in qualitative research, where numerical measurement is either impossible or undesirable.
Abstract: While heated arguments between practitioners of qualitative and quantitative research have begun to test the very integrity of the social sciences, Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba have produced a farsighted and timely book that promises to sharpen and strengthen a wide range of research performed in this field. These leading scholars, each representing diverse academic traditions, have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive and causal inference in qualitative research, where numerical measurement is either impossible or undesirable. Their book demonstrates that the same logic of inference underlies both good quantitative and good qualitative research designs, and their approach applies equally to each. Providing precepts intended to stimulate and discipline thought, the authors explore issues related to framing research questions, measuring the accuracy of data and uncertainty of empirical inferences, discovering causal effects, and generally improving qualitative research. Among the specific topics they address are interpretation and inference, comparative case studies, constructing causal theories, dependent and explanatory variables, the limits of random selection, selection bias, and errors in measurement. Mathematical notation is occasionally used to clarify concepts, but no prior knowledge of mathematics or statistics is assumed. The unified logic of inference that this book explicates will be enormously useful to qualitative researchers of all traditions and substantive fields.
6,233 citations
"The Dual Imperative in Refugee Rese..." refers background in this paper
...One of the simplest—although not always the most practicable—ways of doing this is through comparison of two groups, one of which serves as ‘control’ (see King, Keohane, and Verba 1994; Lieberson 1994; Landau 2003)....
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Book•
01 Jan 1946
TL;DR: A collection of Max Weber's key papers is presented in this article with a new preface by Professor Bryan S. Turner, who was one of the most prolific and influential sociologists of the twentieth century.
Abstract: Max Weber (1864-1920) was one of the most prolific and influential sociologists of the twentieth century. This classic collection draws together his key papers. This edition contains a new preface by Professor Bryan S. Turner.
5,657 citations
Book•
01 Jul 1919
TL;DR: It is not true that the work of art of a period that has worked out new technical means, or, for instance, the laws of perspective, stands therefore artistically higher than a piece of art devoid of all knowledge of those means and laws as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: … Scientific work is chained to the course of progress; whereas in the realm of art there is no progress in the same sense. It is not true that the work of art of a period that has worked out new technical means, or, for instance, the laws of perspective, stands therefore artistically higher than a work of art devoid of all knowledge of those means and laws — if its form does justice to the material, that is, if its object has been chosen and formed so that it could be artistically mastered without applying those conditions and means. A work of art which is genuine “fulfilment” is never surpassed; it will never be antiquated. Individuals may differ in appreciating the personal significance of works of art, but no one will ever be able to say of such a work that it is ‘outstripped’ by another work which is also “fulfilment.”
1,657 citations
Book•
31 Jul 1992
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey of the use of cases in sociological analysis, focusing on three categories: cases are for identity, causes, conjunctures, stories and imagery.
Abstract: Introduction 1. Cases of 'what is a case?' Charles C. Ragin Part I. Cases Are Found: 2. Small Ns and community case studies Douglas Harper 3. What do cases do? Some notes on activity in sociological analysis Andrew Abbott Part II. Cases Are Objects: 4. Small Ns and big conclusions: an examination of the reasoning in comparative studies based on a small number of cases Stanley Lieberson 5. Theory elaboration: the heuristics of case analysis Diane Vaughan Part III. Cases Are Made: 6. Case studies: history or sociology? Michel Wieviorka 7. Making theoretical cases John Walton Part IV. Cases Are Conventions: 8. Cases on cases ... of cases Jennifer Platt 9. Cases are for identity, for explanation, or for control Conclusion 10. Cases, causes, conjunctures, stories and imagery Howard C. White.
1,633 citations
"The Dual Imperative in Refugee Rese..." refers background in this paper
...Unless very carefully selected, non-representative studies, especially those with small samples, seldom yield enough cases or the right kind of cases to allow us to test competing hypotheses and causal relationships (Ragin 1992; Savolainen 1994)....
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