In this Doing geography guide, we discuss some of the ethical and methodological challenges of carrying out qualitative research with refugee and asylum-seeker youth in European cities.
This is neither a guide to how to use specific research methods, nor is it a toolkit that explores the advantages or disadvantages of using specific methods over others. Instead, we consider some of the ethical, political, and methodological quandaries and challenges that have arisen in our research with young refugees and asylum seekers in the four European cities of Brussels, Amsterdam, Leipzig, and Newcastle upon Tyne. In each city, we have worked closely with arts and theatre groups, community organisations, language conversation classes and other groups; some of the insights referred to here draw from these collaborations.
We provide examples of research encounters that worked well, and those where challenges arose, or queries and problems emerged. In some discussions, we deal with more practical insights that surfaced during fieldwork, whereas others are more of an open discussion. Hence, in some cases, the solutions were obvious, but in other cases they were not. We discuss how we worked through these contestations in an open and collaborative way.
Authors: Rik Huizinga, Peter Hopkins, Mattias De Backer, Robin Finlay, Elisabeth Kirndörfer, Mieke Kox, Johanna Bastian, Matthew C. Benwell, Pascale Felten, Lea Haack, Kathrin Hörschelmann and Ilse van Liempt.
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About Doing geography
The purpose of this series of guides for researchers is to promote the contributions of geography and geographers, and to share these in an intelligent and accessible form. Those who read these should learn something new about the topic, or perhaps have a topic they are familiar with explained to them in a new way.
The content of these guides is written in an accessible format and style, and is published under open access creative commons licences; each ideally includes short commentaries, interventions, or thematic explorations that highlight the key issues or briefly explore specific topics, which are brought together by an editor(s) who oversees the collection. Detailed terminology or jargon associated with specific types or forms of geography is kept to a minimum, and lengthy lists of references to the literature are avoided.
We welcome suggestions for any additions to the series from both new and established geographers. A one-page outline should be submitted via email to journals@rgs.org. Topics that might be addressed include, but are not limited to: key debates in geography; doing geographical research; equality, diversity, and inclusion in geography; promoting professional practice in geography; the impact of geography.