Researching migrant workers

1. Researching migrant workers Methodological and ethnical issues

2. The context • Draws principally on two studies • Migrant workers in England and Wales: An assessment of migrant worker health and safety risks (http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr502.htm) • Undocumented workers transitions (http://www.undocumentedmigrants.eu/)

3. Legal and work conditions • Legal status • Debt • Low pay • Some issues over language • Harsh working conditions • Long working hours • Unsocial hours’ patterns • Physical and psychological risks

4. Some key issues in researching vulnerable groups • Determining the sample (Bloch, 2004; Tait, 2006) • Creating and maintaining trust relationships (Hynes, 2003; Greenham and Moran, 2006) • Compensation (Thompson, 1996; Patton, 2002; Kisson, 2006) • Researching within own communities (Markova, 2009) • The ‘hard to reach’ (Mestheneos, 2006; McKay, 2009)

5. The duty of care • To interviewees • To interviewers • To the research community • To wider society

6. Avoiding social and personal harm to interviewees • Assessing risks: deportation; trafficked workers; smuggled workers; • Seeking advice eg on trafficked workers • Discuss with interviewees • Consider alternative methods of data collection

7. Conducting qualitative interviews • Informed consent • Anonymity • Confidentiality • Using interpreters • Conduct of interviews – sensitivity • Compensation • Advice and assistance

8. Avoiding personal harm to interviewers • Choice of interview site • Interviews in participants’ homes • Contact with colleagues • Accompanied interviews

9. Collecting and storing data • Use codes as identifiers • Limit access to data • Ensure that all parties held by confidentiality – including transcribers • Store all data including tapes securely • Make arrangements for longer term storage and disposal before end of project

10. Publication and dissemination • Using data responsibly – awareness of political climate • Involving participants in dissemination

11. Bibliography • Bloch, A. (2007) ‘Methodological challenges for national and multi-sited comparative survey research, Journal of Refugee Studies, 20(2) 230-47 • McKay, Sonia and Synder, Paula (2009) ‘Methodological challenges in researching the working experiences of refugees and recent migrants’ in McKay, S. (ed) Refugees, recent migrants and employment, Routledge, New York, Chapter 3, pp 35-52 • Mestheneos, Elizabeth (2006) ‘Refugees as researchers’ in Temple and Moran Doing research with refugees, The Policy Press, Bristol • Bloch, A. (2004) ‘Survey Research with Refugees: A Methodological Perspective’, Policy Studies, 25: 2, 139-151. • Tait, K. (2006) ‘Refugee voices as evidence in policy and practice’, pp 133-153, in Temple, B. and Moran, R. (Eds) (2006) Doing research with refugees: issues and guidelines, Policy Press: Bristol. • Hynes. P. (2003) ‘The issue of trust and mistrust in research with refugees. Choices, caveats and considerations for researchers, New issues in refugee research’, Working Paper 98, Geneva, UNHCR. • Greenham, F. with Moran, R. ‘Complexity and community empowerment in regeneration’ pp111-132, in Temple, B. and Moran, R. (Eds) (2006) Doing research with refugees: issues and guidelines, Policy Press: Bristol. • Thompson, S. (1996) Paying respondents and informants’, Social Research Update 40, Surrey: University of Surrey (www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru). • Patton, M.Q. (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. • Kissoon, P. (2006) ‘Homelessness as an indicator of integration: interviewing refugees about the meaning of home and accommodation’, pp75-96, in Temple, B. and Moran, R. (Eds) (2006) Doing research with refugees: issues and guidelines, Policy Press: Bristol. • Markova, E. (2009) ‘The insider position’ inVan Liempt, Ilse and Veronika Bilger (eds) (2009) The ethics of migration research methodology – dealing with vulnerable migrants, Sussex Academic Press, Sussex. .