Revised February 2, 2014

METHODS OF RESEARCH WITH FORCED MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

Spring2014

MRS 5204

SYLLABUS

Instructor:Ayman Zohry, PhD.

Class time and location:Monday 5:00 to 7:25pm, Jameel C111

Purpose of the Course:

This course addresses challenges and dilemmas that researchers confront when collecting and interpreting data in migration studies. The students will read and discuss how research on migration is conducted by examining the relevant literature, and course discussions. The course will seek to provide an orientation to the main methodological questions that need to be answered when conducting primary and original research. Research methods discussed include quantitative and qualitative studies on migration. We will discuss questions regarding accessibility to and reliability of relevant data (ranging from use of statistics as well as access to social fields), how to handle confidential research material, and how to analyze data; ethical issues and validity and reliability issues will be also discussed.

Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

The overarching objective of the course is to provide students with advanced-level knowledge regarding the research methodology used in the field of migration.

The specific objectives of the course are indicated below:

  1. Provide an introduction to research methods in social sciences as applied in studies ofmigration, refugees, ethnic diversity, discrimination, racism, social inclusion/exclusion studies.
  2. Assess and select appropriate methods for studies on refugee, migration and ethnicrelations
  3. Understand the application of the most useful methodological tools in thedevelopment of their personal research thesis
  4. Obtain hands on training on data gathering, data analysis and cleaning and writingpapers
  5. Test hypothesis using empirical data
  6. Expose to the most relevant and up-to-date scholarship in the field of migration andrefugee studies.

Teaching Method

The topics in this course will be covered through a variety of methods. Althoughsome course material will be covered through a standard lecture format, instructor’s goal is to lecture as little as possible. Research has shown that the lecture format is not a particularly effective way of learning. Rather than simply sitting and listening, students are expected to become actively involved in the course. Typically, student involvement comes from asking questions and engaging in class discussion. In addition to class discussions, we will engage in a number of activities such as case studies, and in-class exercises, which are designed to provide "hands-on" learning of key course concepts. Basically, my teaching philosophy is to get you as actively involved in the course as possible by having you do things and to think about what you are doing. This type of approach is an effective way to learn course material. However, it is not easy. Active learning requires students to come prepared and ready for class, remain open-minded, and exert considerable mental energy.

Course Prerequisites: None

Student Evaluation/Grading

This is an interactive class and does not rely on traditional examinations; therefore, it is critical that you participate fully from the beginning in readings and discussions.

Final grades for the course will be calculated as follows:

Attendance 10%

Classroom discussions, participation, and presentations 20%

Questionnaire Design30%

ProjectProposal40%

--- There is no final examination in this class ---

Classroom discussions, participation, and presentations: Participation will consist of your contributions to class discussion, your effort and attitude in any in-class exercise, and your performance on any quizzes, reaction/discussion papers, and/or homework assignments. I will give quizzes only if it appears to me that a large number of students have not completed the assigned readings.

Questionnaire Design: The first assessment task for this course is the construction of a questionnaire. You can choose the theme or topic of the questionnaire. Your submission should consist of the following:

  1. A statement of the aims and objectives of the questionnaire, and linked to this, the research questions the questionnaire seeks to provide data on.
  2. An indication of how you plan to administer the questionnaire.
  3. The questionnaire itself.
  4. Some suggestions as to how you would analyze the data collected by the survey.

This piece of work is due no later than MondayMarch31, 2014.

Project Proposal: The second assessment task for this course is to write a project/thesis proposal according to the following guidelines:

  1. Each student will select one aspect from the topics of interest for an individual thesis/research proposal (between 4000 and 4500 words).
  2. Think over and over again, talk to instructor to determine focus and topic of the thesis.
  3. Your thesis or research proposal should be preceded by an abstract that outlines the main argument.
  4. The title must reflect your focus.
  5. In-depth research should be done for the essay in line with the research focus. As a minimum, the sources given as reading for the topic in this Course Outline/Syllabi must be used.
  6. Credit will be given for the student who explores the literature beyond this bare minimum.
  7. Essays based on a wide range of sources have a better chance of earning high marks.

The final version of your proposal should be submitted no later than Monday May 12, 2014. However, you are strongly encourages to submit your draft proposals for feedback before submitting the final version.

For details on writing your proposal, refer to the document distributed in lecture 2 and the CMRS proposal writing guidelines.

Course Text and Readings:

There is no assigned textbook for this class. Instead, students are required to read scholarly articles that focus on the issues we will be discussing in class. The assigned readings are available in the Copy Center Shop (Main Campus). If you are interested in the additional readings, please ask.

Course Schedule and Reading Assignments

Note: The reading list is tentative and may change.

February10: Course Introduction / First Tasks in Migration Research

This lecture describes how the whole semester will go in terms of course load, contents; responsibilities, etc., then we will discuss research process and design in the context of migration research.

Required Readings:

  1. Mason, Elisa. 1999. Researching Refugee and Forced Migration Studies: An Introduction to the Field and the Reference Literature, Behavioural and Social Sciences Librarian,18 (1): 1-20.
  2. Demuth, Andreas. (2000)Some conceptual thoughts on migration research. In. Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Migration Research (Ed. Agozino Biko, 2000). Chapter 2. Ashgate, London

February 17: Proposal Writing

The proposal is, in effect, an intellectual scholastic (not legal) contract between you and your academic supervisor. It specifies what you will do, how you will do it, and how you will interpret the results. In specifying what will be done it also gives criteria for determining whether it is done. In this lecture, we will deal with a number of pragmatic issues to do with the formulation of your proposal, selecting a research theme, the structure of your proposal, finding sources and other work on that topic, project design, fieldwork, types of data, referencing etc. A handout will be distributed that gives more detail about various issues to guide you in developing your own proposal which will be part of the assessment of this course.

Required Readings:

  1. Nussbaum Maury A. (2010)How to Write Proposal.
  2. University of Manitoba (no date)Suggestions for Writing: Theses and Dissertations. University of Manitoba.

Background Readings:

  1. Przeworski, A. and Salomon F. (1995)The Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid Suggestions for Applicants to Social Science Research Council Competitions.
  2. MA thesis Proposal Guidelines
  3. Sample M.A. Proposal: Emilie Minnick.
  4. Stepick, A. & Stepick, Carol. (1990)People in the Shadows: Survey Research among Haitians in Miami, Human Organization, 49(1): 64-77.
  5. Newman, I & Benz, C. (1998)Qualitative-Quantitative Research: A False Dichotomy, in Qualitative-Quantitative Research Methodology: Exploring the Interactive Continuum,Southern Illinois University Press: 1-27.
  6. Freeman, Derek. 2001: 1983. "Mead's Misconstruing of Samoa" in Paul Erickson and Liam Murphy (eds) Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory, Broadview Press, Ontario, pp. 454-465.

February 24: Survey Research

A survey is a systematic method of collecting data from a population of interest. It tends to be quantitative in nature and aims to collect information from a sample of the population such that the results are representative of the population within a certain degree of error. The purpose of a survey is to collect quantitative information, usually through the use of a structured and standardized questionnaire. This lecture will briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of survey research and the steps in conducting a survey.

Required Readings:

  1. Bloch, Alice. (2004) Survey Research with Refugees: A Methodological Perspective. Policy Studies, (25)2:139-151.
  2. University of Toronto (1999) Conducting Survey Research, The Health Communication Unit, Toronto.

Background Readings:

  1. Festinger, Leon (1950)The Methodology of Field Study,” in Social Pressures in Informal Groups: A Study of Human Factors, New York, Harper.
  2. Jacobsen, Karen and Loren Landau (2003)Research refugees: some methodological and ethical considerations in social science and forced migration’, UNHCR Working Paper No. 90, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit: 1 25.
  3. Rodgers, Graeme (2004)Hanging Out with Forced Migrants: Methodological and Ethical Challenges, Forced Migration Review, 21: 48-49.

March 3:Data Collection Methods and Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire is on of the key research instruments of migration studies and social science. In the research process, the questionnaire is often the vital link between the research questions posed as the objectives of the research, and the analysis of data which enables questions to be answered, or at least confronted. Hence, the structure of the questionnaire, and types of questions asked, must also refer the type of analysis you plan to do. In this lecture, attention will also be paid to: (a) the ordering of questions in the questionnaire schedule, (b) sensitivity – what you can and should not ask, (c) the wording and framing of individual questions, and (d) types of questions and response, that’s how individual questions can be “made” to yield certain types of data, which links on to coding schemes. Finally, some wider issues of researching with questionnaires will be posed such as the bias, and limitations of questionnaires.

Required Readings:

  1. Fanning Elizabeth. 2005. Formatting a Paper-based Survey Questionnaire: Best Practices. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation. 10(12).
  2. Rattray, Janice and Martyn C. Jones (2007) Essential elements of questionnaire design and development, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16:234–243.

Background Readings:

  1. Benford, P. and Standen, P. J. (2010)The use of email-facilitated interviewing with higher functioning autistic people participating in a grounded theory study', International Journal of Social Research Methodology14(5),353-368.
  2. Fargues P., El-Masry S., Sadek S. & Shaban A. (2008)'Iraqis in Egypt: A Statistical Survey in 2008' (A provisional copy) Center for Migration and Refugee Studies. The American University in Cairo.

March 10: Sampling

Sampling is important because only when the canon of sampling are respected can you be confident in the representativeness of your findings, and can your data be properly tested for statistical significance. However, there are many research situations in which a properly statistically representative sample cannot be drawn. Hence, we will also examine some more pragmatic survey and sampling strategies which attempt to minimize these problems.

------Submitting Draft Questionnaire ------

Required Readings:

  1. Noy, Chaim. (2008) Sampling Knowledge: The Hermeneutics of Snowball Sampling in Qualitative Research', International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11: 4, 327- 344
  2. Sampling. Part I: The How-To’s of Monitoring and Evaluation. Chapter 6.

Background Readings:

  1. Heckathorn, Douglas D.(1997) Respondent-Driven Sampling: A New Approach to the Study of Hidden Populations, Social Problems,44(2):174-199.
  2. Harrell-Bond, B. and E. Voutira ( 2007) In Searchof "Invisible"Actors: Barriers to Access in Refugee Research, Journal of Refugee Studies 20(2):281-298.

March 17:Presentation of Draft Questionnaires

March 24: Introducing Qualitative Methods and Conducting Qualitative Interviews

In this lecture, you will be introduced to the essential basis of the qualitative approach and the notion of representativeness with which it works. This lecture also introduces you to the qualitative interview. It will introduce different kinds of interviews that can be conducted, including the sampling and recruitment of respondents, different kinds of questions that can be asked, body language and dress, the interview dynamics, and recording techniques.

Required Readings:

  1. Marck, Natasha, Synthia Woodsong, Kathleen N. MacQueen, Greg Guest, and Emily Namey (2005) Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide, Family Health International. Module 1: Qualitative Research Methods Overview, 1-12.
  2. Marck, Natasha, Synthia Woodsong, Kathleen N. MacQueen, Greg Guest, and Emily Namey (2005) Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide, Family Health International. Module 3: In-Depth Interviews, 29-50.
  3. Davies, Katherine (2010) Knocking on doors: recruitment and enrichment in a qualitative interview-based study', International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 1-12.
  4. Mays, N. and C. Pope (1995) Rigour and qualitative research, British Medical Journal (BMJ), 311: 109-112.

Background Readings:

  1. Seale, C. F. (1999) Quality in Qualitative Research, Qualitative Inquiry 5(4): 465–78.
  2. Walsh, Margaret (2003) Teaching Qualitative Analysis Using QSR NVivo. The Qualitative Report, (8)2: 251-256
  3. Gregorio Silvana di. (2000) Using Nvivo For Your Literature Review. Paper presented at Strategies In Qualitative Research: Issues And Results From Analysis Using Qsr Nvivo And Nud*Ist, conference at the Institute of Education, London - 29-30.
  4. Minnick, E. (2009)Stuck’ in Egypt: Iraqi refugees’ perceptions of their prospects for resettlement to third countries and return to Iraq.” American University in Cairo;Center for Migration and Refugee Studies.
  5. Boyce, Carolyn and Palena Neale (2006) Conducting In-Depth Interviews: A Guide for Designing and Conducting In-Depth Interviews for Evaluation Input, Pathfinder International.
  6. Turner, Daniel W. (2010) Qualitative Interview Design: A Practical Guide for Novice Investigators, The Qualitative Report, 15(3): 754-760
  7. Seidman, I. E. (1991)Chapters 1-2, 4-8. Interviewing As Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences, Columbia University,New York.

March 31: Analyzing Interview Materials

Having established some basic interview techniques, this lecture examines some of the different ways in which interview materials can be analyzed and presented. Too often, students who have gained excellent materials from their interviews fail to do that material justice in their analysis of it, often doing little more than reporting their interview materials in the form of illustrative quotes. Different analytical techniques will be introduced to analyze interview materials with a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages.

------Submission of final questionnaires ------

Required Readings:

  1. Folkestad, B. (2008) Analysing Interview Data: Possibilities and Challenges, EUROSPHERE Working Paper Series No. 13.
  2. Babbie, E. (2002) Chapter 13Qualitative Data Analysis" The Basics of Social Research, Wadsworth.
  3. Saad, Reem (2007) "Egyptian Workers in Paris- Economic Migration and the Male Burden under Transnationalism". Kvinder, Køn & Forskning (Women, Gender & Research) 2-3/2007 "Transnational Experiences: Europe - Middle East".

Background Readings:

  1. Gregorio Silvana di. (2000) Using Nvivo For Your Literature Review. Paper presented at Strategies In Qualitative Research: Issues And Results From Analysis Using Qsr Nvivo And Nud*Ist, conference at the Institute of Education, London.
  2. Radnor, Hilary. (1994)Collecting and Analysing Interview Data,University of Exeter.

April 7: Reviewing Other Qualitative Methods

There exist a whole range of qualitative methods other than only interviewing. In so short time, we can not hope to cover them all, so instead you will be introduced to those that may prove most useful to your project and to some which you may not have considered. Other qualitative methods to be discussed in this lecture include Focus Group Discussions, Participant Observation, and Participatory Rural Appraisal.

Required Readings:

  1. IOWA State University(2004)Methodology Brief: Focus Group Fundamentals, IOWA State University.
  2. Marck, Natasha, Synthia Woodsong, Kathleen N. MacQueen, Greg Guest, and Emily Namey (2005) Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide, Family Health International. Module 2: Participant Observation, 13-28.
  3. Marck, Natasha, Synthia Woodsong, Kathleen N. MacQueen, Greg Guest, and Emily Namey (2005) Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide, Family Health International. Module 4: Focus Group Discussions, 51-77.
  4. Adebo Simon (2000) Participatory Rural Appraisal. Ethiopia.

Background Readings:

  1. Powels, Julia. (2004)Life History and Personal Narrative: Theoretical and Methodological Issues Relevant to Research and Evaluation in Refugee Contexts," New Issues in Refugee Research, Working Paper No. 106, UNHCR Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit.
  2. Morgan, D. (1997) Focus Groups As Qualitative Research, Second Edition, Qualitative Research Methods Series 16, A Sage University Paper.
  3. Greenbaum, T. (2000)The Role of the Moderator, Chapter 4” in Moderating Focus Groups: A Practical Guide For Group Facilitation. Sage Publications, London.
  4. Threadgold, T. and Clifford, S. (2006)Focus Groups With Refugees: Report to the Welsh Refugee Council, Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. Pp. 1-118.
  5. Labov. W. & Waletzky, J. (1967)Narrative Analysis: Oral Versions of Personal Experience" in Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts, Proceedings of the 1966 Annual Spring Meeting of the American Ethnological Society. Pp. 12-44.
  6. Khalaf, S. and Alkobaisi, S. (1999), “Migrants’ Strategies of coping and patterns of accommodation in the Oil-Rich Gulf societies: Evidence from the UAE,”British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 26(2): 28.

April 14: Holiday/ Spring Break

April 21: Holiday/ Spring Break

April 28: Presentation of Draft Proposals

May 5: Ethical Issues in Research with Migrants and Refugees

In this lecture, we will discuss the ethics of conducting research with migrants and refugees and the proper ethical guidelines to apply when researching migrants, refugee populations, and vulnerable groups.

Required Readings:

  1. Pittaway E; Bartolomei L; Hugman R, (2010)Stop stealing our stories: The ethics of research with vulnerable groups,Journal of Human Rights Practice, (2)2:229-251.
  2. Goodhand, J. (2000) Research in Conflict Zones: Ethics and Accountability, Forced Migration Review 8.
  3. Birman, D. (2006) Ethical issues in research with immigrants and refugees. InJoseph E. Trimble & Celia B. Fisher (Eds.), The handbook of ethical research with ethnocultural populations and communities, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 155-178.

Background Readings: