Qualitative Research In European Migration Studies

This open access book covers the main issues, challenges and techniques concerning the application of qualitative methodologies to the study of migration. It discusses theoretical, epistemological and empirical questions that must be considered before, during, and after undertaking qualitative research in migration studies. It also covers recent innovative developments and addresses the key issues and major challenges that qualitative migration research may face at different stages i.e. crafting the research questions, defining approaches, developing concepts and theoretical frameworks, mapping categories, selecting cases, dealing with concerns of self-reflection, collecting and processing empirical evidence through various techniques, including visual data, dealing with ethical issues, and developing policy-research dialogues. Each chapter discusses relative strengths and limitations of qualitative research. The chapters also identify the main drivers for qualitative research development in migration studies. It is a unique volume as it brings together a multidisciplinary perspective as well as illustrations of different issues derived from the research experience of the recognized authors. One additional value of this book is its geographic focus on Europe. It seeks to explore theoretical and methodological issues that are raised by distinctive features of the European context. This volume will be a useful reference source for scholars and professionals in migration studies and in social sciences as well. The publication is also addressed to graduate and post-graduate students and, more generally, to those who embark on the task of doing qualitative research for the first time in the field of migration.

This open access book covers the main issues, challenges and techniques concerning the application of qualitative methodologies to the study of migration. It discusses theoretical, epistemological and empirical questions that must be considered before, during, and after undertaking qualitative research in migration studies. It also covers recent innovative developments and addresses the key issues and major challenges that qualitative migration research may face at different stages i.e. crafting the research questions, defining approaches, developing concepts and theoretical frameworks, mapping categories, selecting cases, dealing with concerns of self-reflection, collecting and processing empirical evidence through various techniques, including visual data, dealing with ethical issues, and developing policy-research dialogues. Each chapter discusses relative strengths and limitations of qualitative research. The chapters also identify the main drivers for qualitative research development in migration studies. It is a unique volume as it brings together a multidisciplinary perspective as well as illustrations of different issues derived from the research experience of the recognized authors. One additional value of this book is its geographic focus on Europe. It seeks to explore theoretical and methodological issues that are raised by distinctive features of the European context. This volume will be a useful reference source for scholars and professionals in migration studies and in social sciences as well. The publication is also addressed to graduate and post-graduate students and, more generally, to those who embark on the task of doing qualitative research for the first time in the field of migration.

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in a series of issues related to migration, including identity formation and change, the role of social capital and social networks, ethnic discrimination, racism and xenophobia, socio-political participation and mobilisation and the complex nature of the causal mechanisms linked to migration – issues that are better highlighted and investigated using qualitative methods. Moving away from the quantitative and empiricist-positivist approaches that have often characterised migration research, Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies explores in a concise but comprehensive way the key issues involved in researching migratory phenomena in a qualitative manner. It addresses themes including the basic characteristics of contemporary migration, qualitative research into social processes related to migration, and the relationship between theory, research design and practice. Drawing upon empirical case studies and a series of real and hypothetical examples, the book develops a critical realist alternative both to empiricism and interpretivist, social constructionist and post-structuralist relativism in qualitative migration research. With special emphasis on the meta-theoretical dimensions of qualitative research practice, this volume connects qualitative findings to policy formation and ‘politics making’, exploring the multiple dimensions involved in researching migratory phenomena, such as ontology, epistemology, methodology, ethics and research practice. As such, it will be of interest to students and researchers in migration across the social sciences.

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in a series of issues related to migration, including identity formation and change, the role of social capital and social networks, ethnic discrimination, racism and xenophobia, socio-political participation and mobilisation and the complex nature of the causal mechanisms linked to migration - issues that are better highlighted and investigated using qualitative methods. Moving away from the quantitative and empiricist-positivist approaches that have often characterised migration research, Qualitative Methods in Migration Studies explores in a concise but comprehensive way the key issues involved in researching migratory phenomena in a qualitative manner. It addresses themes including the basic characteristics of contemporary migration, qualitative research into social processes related to migration, and the relationship between theory, research design and practice. Drawing upon empirical case studies and a series of real and hypothetical examples, the book develops a critical realist alternative both to empiricism and interpretivist, social constructionist and post-structuralist relativism in qualitative migration research. With special emphasis on the meta-theoretical dimensions of qualitative research practice, this volume connects qualitative findings to policy formation and ’politics making’, exploring the multiple dimensions involved in researching migratory phenomena, such as ontology, epistemology, methodology, ethics and research practice. As such, it will be of interest to students and researchers in migration across the social sciences.

This open access book explores the use of visual methods in migration studies through a combination of theoretical analyses and empirical studies. The first section looks at how various visual methods, including photography, film, and mental maps, may be used to analyse the spatial presence of migrants. The second section addresses the processual building of narratives around migration, thereby using formats such as film and visual essay, and reflecting upon the ways they become carriers and mediators of both story and theory within the subject of migration. Section three focuses on vulnerable communities and discusses how visual methods can empower these communities, thereby also focusing on the theoretical and ethical implications of migration. The fourth section addresses the issue of migrant representation in visual discourses. Based on these contributions, a concluding methodological chapter systematizes the use of visual methods in migration studies across disciplines, with regard to their empirical, theoretical, and ethical implications. Multidisciplinary in character, this book is an interesting read for students and migration scholars who engage with visual methodologies, as well as practitioners, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, curators of exhibitions who address the topic of migration visually.

Transnational mobility in the EU has become a key factor for supranational integration, equal life chances and socioeconomic prosperity. This book explores the cultural and social patterns that shape people’s migration, the historical and contemporary patterns of their movement, and the manifold consequences of their migration for themselves and their families. Exploring the links between social and spatial mobility, the book draws attention to the complexity of moving and staying, as ways in which social inequalities are shaped and reinforced. Grounded in research conducted in Germany and Poland, the book develops the concept of "cultures of transnationality" to analytically frame the variety of expectations involved in migration, and how they shape migration dispositions, opportunities, and outcomes. Cultures of Transnationality in European Migration will be of broad interest to scholars and students of transnational migration, European development, cultural sociology, intersectionality and subjectivity. Specifically, it will appeal to scholars interested in the cultural ramifications of moving and staying as well as those interested in the interplay of gender, ethnicity and class, in the making of social inequality.

Covering both qualitative and quantitative topics, the expert contributors in this Handbook explore fundamental issues of scientific logic, methodology and methods, through to practical applications of different techniques and approaches in migration research. The chapters of this interdisciplinary Handbook maintain an introductory level of discussion on migration research methods, while providing readers with references necessary for those wishing to go deeper into the topic. Using a combination of concepts and techniques with research experiences from the field, this Handbook will prove to be an invaluable guide. Master-level students and academics in migration-related programs will find this compendium a useful and stimulating resource. It also discusses issues relating to the collection of data on migrants, including topics such as survey designs, interviewing techniques and ethical issues that policymakers and government employees will find informative. Advisory Board: Professor Stephen Castles Professor Robin Cohen Professor Josh DeWind Professor Raoel Delgado Wise

Based on a qualitative study on migrants of Somali origin who have settled in Europe for at least a decade, this open access book offers a ground-breaking exploration of the idea of mobility, both empirically and theoretically. It draws a comprehensive typology of the varied “post-migration mobility practices” developed by these migrants from their country of residence after having settled there. It argues that cross-border mobility may, under certain conditions, become a form of capital that can be employed to pursue advantages in transnational social fields. Anchored in rich empirical data, the book constitutes an innovative and successful attempt at theoretically linking the emerging field of “mobilities studies” with studies of migration, transnationalism and integration. It emphasises how the ability to be mobile may become a significant marker of social differentiation, alongside other social hierarchies. The “mobility capital” accumulated by some migrants is the cornerstone of strategies intended to negotiate inconsistent social positions in transnational social fields, challenging sedentarist and state-centred visions of social inequality. The migrants in the study are able to diversify the geographic and social fields in which they accumulate and circulate resources, and to benefit from this circulation by reinvesting them where they can best be valorised.The study sheds a different light on migrants who are often considered passive or problematic migrants/refugees in Europe, and demonstrates that mobility capital is not the prerogative of highly qualified elites: less privileged migrants also circulate in a globalised world, benefiting from being embedded in transnational social fields and from mobility practices over which they have gained some control.