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21 Ethical challenges in research with
vulnerable migrants
Ilse van Liempt and Veronika Bilger
In this chapter we present some of the challenges and issues that resulted
out of several research projects involving migrants in vulnerable situa-
tions. We believe that the ‘lessons learned’ are suited to contribute to
the design of new research that will have to deal with similar chal-
lenges. Over the last decade international migration has become much
more complex than in previous years. It is no longer predominantly a
movement between selected states, like, for example, during the guest
worker period, but is becoming increasingly global and complex. More
persons from more diverse countries of origin migrate over longer dis-
tances, in a shorter period of time and with more interruptions along
the route. At the same time, and accompanied by increasingly restrictive
approaches towards speci c forms of immigration, a clear trend emerges
towards a selective approach towards international migration. States
seek to promote ‘desirable’ migration and to reduce what is considered
‘unwanted’ migration. This approach is re ected in restrictive measures
in regard to admission, residence, access to the labour market, social
bene ts and so on. The (unintended) consequences of these immigration
policies are re ected in a considerable increase in irregular migration in
the last decades (Arango, 2000; Castles and Miller, 2003) and an increas-
ing number of migrants in precarious situations connected to illegal
residence, exploitative labour conditions, social and economic marginal-
isation and so on.1 These changes in migration processes have resulted in
the emergence of important new elds for the study of migration in the
1990s, like irregular migration, human smuggling, human tra cking and
transit migration. In these early studies on irregular migration processes
the economic and the criminal discourse were most of all dominant with
a lot of attention on the causes of the ‘problem’ and on questions like
how human smuggling and tra cking functions as a ‘business’ (Salt and
Stein, 1997).
The fact that these irregular migration processes often result in precari-
ous situations for migrants has not been studied much, in contrast to the
United States where many more studies on irregular migrants’ lives have
been conducted (Duvell et al., 2010). Recently research interests in Europe
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452 Handbook of research methods in migration
in the eld of irregular migration, however, have started to diversify and
other aspects of irregular migration such as the implications of migra-
tion policies on ‘illegal’ migration or the conditions of these ‘vulnerable’
migrants are given much more attention.
An increase in research where migrants in vulnerable situations are at
the centre of attention asks for subsequent methodological discussions
and ethical considerations. As the concept of ‘the vulnerable’ is socially
constructed a precise de nition is problematic. Moore and Miller (1999)
contend that ‘vulnerable persons include persons who are, individually or
as part of a group, stigmatised, excluded or have limited control over their
lives, to maintain independence and to self- determine’ (Moore and Miller,
1999, p. 1034). This includes, for example, low status populations, minors,
members of excluded groups, unemployed or impoverished persons,
people in emergency situations, prisoners or detainees, homeless, minori-
ties and refugees, traumatized, persons with mental illnesses and mentally
incompetent people.
Research involving vulnerable persons or groups, sensitive topics (for
example, ‘illegal’ or political behaviour, the experience of violence, abuse
or exploitation); groups very di cult to access (for example, ‘ethnic or cul-
tural groups’); and, in particular, research involving ‘access to records of
personal or con dential information’ is generally considered as involving
more than minimal risk (ESRC, 2005, cited in Duvell et al., 2010, p. 228).
However, in our view the increased attention given to research involv-
ing vulnerable migrants has still not yet been adequately translated into
corresponding publications on methodological and ethical challenges in
the study of migration (van Liempt and Bilger, 2009). There are very few
books that document and provide advice on how to go about perform-
ing sensitive research with vulnerable persons. And while reading about
research results of others we rarely get information on the design of the
research or the research process such as how participants were selected,
identi ed and accessed. Even less insight is provided in regard to di cul-
ties experienced, possible biases, the researcher’s positioning and how
con dential information was dealt with. Qualitative research often results
in face to face interactions, observations and participating in research par-
ticipants’ lives which imposes particular ethical challenges (Dench et al.,
2004, p. 31) that are also hardly ever discussed.
On the one hand, this gap in the literature re ects the dilemma of the
multidisciplinary nature of the study of migration which requires compre-
hensive knowledge and understanding of the methodological approaches
of various disciplines (Agozino, 2000). Outside the migration eld there
is excellent work addressing methodological and ethical issues which are
often overlooked or cannot be easily translated to issues of migration
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Ethical challenges in research with vulnerable migrants 453
(Bilger and van Liempt, 2009). On the other hand, the limited amount of
publications on this topic also re ects the reservation towards handling
the fact that there are particular di culties related to empirical research
with vulnerable migrants (Bilger and van Liempt, 2009).
21.1 THE ETHICAL CONTEXT
There is consensus across the literature that qualitative research imposes
more ethical challenges than quantitative research. Quantitative research
applies more formal interview situations of a hierarchical nature between
interviewer and interviewee whereas qualitative research asks for a rela-
tionship between the researcher and the research subjects (Dench et al.,
2004, p. 31). Face to face interactions, observations and participating in
research participants’ lives create particular tensions when considering
research ethics.
For a long time ethical issues relating to research involving human
subjects were limited to the eld of medical studies and related to subjects
such as human anthropology. Ethical standards in social science are much
more recent. The rst international code of ethics to protect the right of
people from research abuse was conducted in 1949 in the Nuremberg
Code. Other Codes of Ethics are the ‘Declaration of Helsinki’ (1964) and
the ‘Belmont Report’ (1978). Today, in many countries social science
research is routinely assessed in respect to its ethical implications. Ethical
principles are integrated in a variety of national guidelines and regulations
and especially in the Anglo- Saxon countries and ethic committees are set
up to which researchers should hand in their research ideas for approval.
Ethical standards in social science are generally based on three basic prin-
ciples: respect for human dignity, justice and bene cence. These standards
also emphasize four guidelines through which these principles should be
applied: informed consent, non- deception, privacy and con dentiality,
and accuracy (Christians, 2005, p. 144).
These standards and ethical assessment procedures, however, still bear
the hallmarks of medical research and life science and are not always
easily applicable in qualitative research. Rather than searching for neutral
principles to which all parties can appeal social ethics in human relations
are much more complex and in uenced by all sorts of moral judgements
and beliefs and feelings that go beyond rigid sets of rules and guidelines.
Feelings of shame and approval, empathy and intuition may, for example,
have e ects on human interactions. Besides, interview settings are always
in uenced by power- relations. Paradoxically, when research strives for a
more reciprocal relation between the ‘researcher’ and the ‘researched’ the
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454 Handbook of research methods in migration
criteria of informed consent, non- deception, privacy and con dentiality
are more di cult to deal with.
21.2 PLANNING THE RESEARCH
21.2.1 Understanding the Institutional Framework
Migrants’ lives in general but particularly those shaped by irregular
migration, exploitation or other aspects of ‘illegality’ are very much in u-
enced by a speci c political and institutional framework that poses very
concrete methodological and ethical challenges. The legal framework
surrounding migration is rooted in a political context that is currently
most of all restrictive and selective towards certain types of immigrants.
This has an intrusive impact on immigrants’ lives, especially on irregular
migrants’ lives. Under the jurisdiction of immigration legislation the
framework in which these migrants move and organize their lives is, in
many ways, fundamentally di erent from the majority population’s.
Immigrants are subjected to a di erent realm of legal and administrative
procedures at all levels and in many cases of a discretionary nature (see
Barsky, 2009).
However, not every aspect in a migrant’s life is to be explained by
migration alone. In reality various dimensions my overlap, in uence or
determine one another. Important observations in the eld may equally
apply to non- migrants. Thus, researchers need to carefully weigh di erent
factors according to their actual signi cance in order to avoid, what we
call, a ‘migration bias’ (Bilger and van Liempt, 2009, p. 3).
Acknowledging a possible ‘migration bias’ is particularly important
when taking into consideration that most research in the eld of migra-
tion has its origin in policy concerns (Black, 2001). Migration research has
increasingly developed into a policy supporting research eld and shows
an increase in the number of commissioned research where the topics and
directions of research are already prede ned by stakeholders. This kind of
research is likely to bring more signi cant changes to the lives of migrants
because certain questions derived from policy priorities may produce
results that would, positively or negatively, directly a ect the commu-
nity (Minnery and Greenhalgh, 2007). This situation has, however, also
encouraged researchers to take the categories, concepts and priorities of
policymakers at the core of their research design (Bakewell, 2008) and thus
privileges the worldview of the policymakers in constructing the research,
constraining the research questions asked, the subjects of study and the
methodologies and analysis adopted.
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Ethical challenges in research with vulnerable migrants 455
21.2.2 Framing the ‘Right’ Research Questions and Methodological
Approach
The fact that the lives of ‘vulnerable’ migrants is very much shaped by
particular institutional settings and legislation has a number of basic
ethical and methodological implications speci c to migration research
and particularly to research involving migrants in precarious situations.
Understanding the institutional framework and the informed position-
ing of the envisaged research within this particular framework is a rst
important ethical challenge. The framing of research questions and
methodological approaches include fundamental ethical decisions which
shape the orientation of the research, but also the nature and level of
involvement of participating persons. Moreover, if the research is not
carefully designed and potential negative e ects are not assessed research
results may have severe negative impacts on migrants’ current and future
lives.
We think there are three important questions to ask right at the
beginning of framing the research:
● What should be researched?
● Why should it be researched?
● How should it be researched?
The framing of the subjects of study, the research question(s), and sub-
sequent methodological approaches determines what type of information
can and will be acquired. Researchers are often asked by interviewees to
explain why they are doing what they are doing and although this may
seem a question with an easy answer in terms of acquiring knowledge or
in academic terms ‘empirical evidence’, it may not always be obvious from
an ethical point of view why the research should be conducted or why it
should be conducted in a particular way.
Researchers should be more critical about the fact that they often have
a detective’s urge to know ‘everything’ without re ecting on the need to
collect all that data. An important ethical consideration is how to deal with
collected data that is not of direct use for the research project. In her work
on Hutu refugees in a refugee camp in Tanzania Malkki states that: ‘the
success of the eldwork hinged not so much on a determination to ferret
out “the facts” as on a willingness to leave some stones unturned, to listen
to what my informants deemed important, and to demonstrate my trust-
worthiness by not prying where I was not wanted’ (Malkki, 1995, p. 51).
Our own experience with interviewing irregular migrants is that there is a
ne line between what participants consider appropriate behaviour for a
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456 Handbook of research methods in migration
researcher and when they start to see you as a journalist who is interested
in the ‘juicy details’.
21.3 CONDUCTING THE RESEARCH
21.3.1 The Ethical Rule of Informed Consent
In the case of research with ‘vulnerable’ migrants the ‘why do you want
to know this’ question often determines to what extent people are ready
to participate in research and is linked to the ethical question of how
research can bene t or harm respondents. There is no need to participate
in research if participation might have negative consequences on people’s
lives and research participants have the right to know what type of infor-
mation will be collected by researchers and how this is going to be used.
Important questions to ask at the start of a research project therefore are:
● Who should bene t from the research?
● What might be the outcome of the research?
● Could the research harm anybody?
● Who is or might be interested in the results?
Positioning the research project is vital, not only to reassure participants
about how personal information provided by them is used, but also to give
them an idea of the overall purpose of the research project. It is important
to be aware of the wider e ects research might have for participants. When
irregular migration is, for example, the subject of research it is important
to make clear to participants whether research results will be shared with
the police or immigration o cers and if so why this is done. In most
cases respondents will ask researchers about this at the start of the inter-
view. There are, however, also situations in which it can be di cult for
researchers to know beforehand how participation in research may exactly
impact respondents. Therefore it is very important to inform respondents
about the goal of research and to give them the opportunity to calculate
the risks and decide for themselves whether they want to participate or
not. The ethical rule of voluntary participation or ‘informed consent’
requires the ‘provision of information to participants about the purpose
of the research, its procedures, potential risks, bene ts and alternatives’
(Christians, 2005, p. 144).
This rule of informed consent normally requires a written or verbal
agreement between researcher and research subject. This is sometimes,
however, very impracticable, for example, when groups of people are
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Ethical challenges in research with vulnerable migrants 457
researched, or when researchers spent a lot of time with participants
and do not want to emphasize the fact that they are part of an academic
research project over and over again. The principle of informed consent
also bears particular di culties when there are big di erences between
the researcher and the participants in regard to legal and socio- economic
status, culture or education. For a researcher it may in that case be
di cult to know exactly what possible risks and harms will be for par-
ticipants simply because he or she is not familiar with the circumstances
respondents nd themselves in. Too often, researchers ignore the values,
the lifestyle and the cognitive and a ective world of the participants but
are guided by their own worldviews and ignorance about the participants’
realities (Augustin, 2008), which aggravates the di culties in assessing
possible harms of the research for persons participating in the research.
An unequal relationship between researcher and researched may also
result in people participating in research against their will. It may be dif-
cult for ‘vulnerable’ migrants to refuse to participate in research because
they feel a social pressure to do so. This was, for example, clearly visible
on occasions where respondents anxiously enquired after having been
interviewed for an hour or so whether the information that they had pro-
vided would su ce. This situation may lead to unethical situations where
participants are somehow forced to share information they would rather
not share. Moreover, the laws and regulations which shape migrants’ lives
are often not fully transparent to both the researcher and the potential
participants. As such, possible consequences of participating in research
may not always easily be appraised by either side.
21.3.2 The Ethical Rule of Guaranteeing Anonymity
Researchers working with vulnerable migrants usually write about the
strong privacy concern and the ethical rule of guaranteeing anonymity. In
most qualitative methodological approaches it is a standard not to reveal
names of participants and the reason why this is done is usually thoroughly
explained in methods sections of articles or book chapters. Guaranteeing
anonymity, however, is much more complex than just hiding or changing
someone’s name. It is often not enough to simply change someone’s name
when the sample is very small and persons may be identi ed already by
the fact of being part of a certain group such as a Hutu refugee living in a
small village where no other Hutu refugees are. Rather than applying the
rule of guaranteeing anonymity as a standard thing to do it is important
to think about how the person could be identi ed (also within their own
group).
Again, it is important to understand the situation respondents nd
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458 Handbook of research methods in migration
themselves in to be able to realize what the e ects can be if one’s identity
or certain elements of their life story are concealed. Particularly, when
conducting research with persons navigating at the margins of the law,
researchers may be put in the position of a ‘secret holder’ sometimes
without even being aware of it. It can be very di cult for a researcher to
know whether the ‘secret’ if brought to the public could lead to any harm.
This places extra demands on the researchers for accuracy and sensitivity
and asks for active involvement of the researcher.
Within methodological paragraphs attention is often put on the reasons
why people refuse to participate in research, the so- called non- response.
Within our own research it turned out important to know as well why
migrants wanted to participate in research because they had speci c
expectations towards participation in terms of bene ts. It is thus equally
important to ask why people want to participate in research. The political
climate may, for example, deter, but at the same time encourage migrants
to participate in research. Some of our participants, for example, were
reluctant to make themselves visible through research, even when their
anonymity was guaranteed because they felt discouraged by the anti-
immigrant attitudes in society whereas others explicitly participated
because they wanted to bring their private story to the public to in u-
ence public opinion. Research participants may also expect or hope for
legal or economic help from the researchers’ side. Moreover, networking
and making friends can be essential for survival when being in a pre-
carious situation and that may impact the interview setting considerably.
Interviewees may, for example, try to present themselves in a particular
way in order to increase the chances of becoming friends/lovers. It is
important to acknowledge that interviewees may have their own reasons
for participating in research and are able to set limits on what information
they provide (Glazer, 1982). Being overprotective and focusing on the
reasons for refusal and the dangers involved in participating in research
can be interpreted as a lack of respect for dignity on the participants’ side.
21.3.3 How to Build Up Trust in a Context of Mistrust?
In methodological textbooks we nd much attention on how to build up
trust with respondents (see also Sánchez- Ayala, Chapter 6, this volume).
Authors often let us believe that after having build up trust the research
process went smooth and quickly. We do not want to deny that building
up trust is very important. It is even of particular importance in the speci c
context of researching vulnerable immigrants. However, when dealing
with vulnerable migrants our experience is that it is more about taking
away mistrust than about building up trust. Similar ndings are reported
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Ethical challenges in research with vulnerable migrants 459
in research with asylum seekers where mistrust is often considered a key
factor in asylum seekers’ survival strategies.2 As Robinson, for example,
makes clear ‘many asylum seekers have had to learn not to trust people
to survive. Their persecutions in the country of origin may have been
sparked by a casual comment made by a neighbour, a colleague, a friend
or even someone who wished them ill’ (Robinson, 2002, p. 64, empha-
sis added). Undocumented immigrants, persons who engage in ‘illegal’
activities or who su er from any kind of violence or dependency such as,
for example, victims of tra cking are often sworn to secrecy about their
current situation, status or activities (see, for example, Atkinson and Flint,
2001; Cornelius, 1982; Duncan et al., 2003; Ellis and MacGa ey, 1996).
This particular situation calls for research approaches di erent from those
commonly used in terms of building up trust. In a continuous balancing
act these persons time and again have to decide whether to trust a person
or not and sometimes even nd themselves fully at the mercy of strangers.
Unfortunately, understanding why and how individuals develop mistrust
but also to what extent respondents are mistrusted is only rarely taken into
consideration in research involving vulnerable migrants.
21.3.4 Deconstructing Constructed Identities
‘Mistrust’ and ‘suspicion’ do not only play an important role in migrants’
survival strategies. Migrants themselves are also often mistrusted and
intensively questioned from many sides (Hynes, 2003). Upon arrival,
or if in contact with institutions, they are exposed to rather unpleasant
interview situations on their person and biography such as the asylum
authorities, police, medical doctors, journalists, persons from their own
community and so on. These kinds of conversations usually follow the
logic of an interrogation rather than the nature of a conversation driven
by genuine interest. Talking about one’s life is exclusively about nding
inconsistencies in a life story, about testing the life story for legally rel-
evant information and for rational logic. Providing a ‘wrong answer’ can
have drastic e ects on the person’s current and future life, for example,
a negative decision on the asylum claim, detention or imprisonment,
deportation, losing a job and so on. Immigrants, who run the risk of being
detected or interviewed by o cials at any time, might be biased and suspi-
cious when approached by a researcher and may try to t their story to
their expectations in order to minimize possible damage done to them.
In this context it is important to ask oneself how the situation respond-
ents nd themselves in in uences the life stories told to a researcher.
Narrations are always adapted to the circumstances one nds oneself in at
the moment of revealing them, but in case of ‘vulnerable’ migrants this is
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460 Handbook of research methods in migration
even more the case. The fact that vulnerable migrants live in an environ-
ment of suspicion produces a high level of pressure on how best to present
themselves and to be cautious on what aspects should be presented to
whom. Migrants learn how to present themselves in di erent settings over
time; this is particularly the case for asylum seekers who are constantly
questioned and tested to nd out whether they are ‘genuine’ or ‘bogus’.
These conditions in uence the way migrants present themselves and may
lead to a constant adaptation of narrations according to the requirements
imposed on them in a given situation.
This situation not only has an impact on how people present their life
stories to researchers or to the authorities, but also on the personal percep-
tion of certain periods of life and how one comes to terms with this new
situation. If the personal past must be adjusted consistently and memory
has to shift from an uno cial to an o cial identity, from a very personal
biography to a safer and public version, it creates stress. Khosravi (2010)
in this regard writes about the embodiment of being an ‘illegal’ immigrant
and how being seen by others as ‘illegal’ may have huge implications for
one’s wellbeing and self- image. This speci c situation asks for a very
accur ate and ethically sound approach from the researchers’ side because
it could destroy the trust that was built up with respondents.
One strategy of responding to repeated interrogative questioning is
to convey one’s life story according to the needs of the person listen-
ing. In this context respondents are likely to provide information about
themselves in accordance with their own needs and with the needs of the
listener. They may thus (consciously or unconsciously) be reluctant or
afraid to inform the researcher about their true views, tell what they think
the researcher expects or wants to hear, wish to promote a particular
vision of their situation or hope for any kind of bene t by participating.
What information will be disclosed to researchers very much depends on
how participants assess the researchers’ role vis- à- vis the respondent. For
example, information that could lead to bene ts might be particularly
elaborated upon, highlighted or upgraded while providing insight and
information that would possibly have negative e ects will either be pre-
sented in such a way that it will not cause any harm (for example, by a
partial construction of speci c events or by leaving out certain details) or
simply not be elaborated upon at all.
The Dublin regulations may serve as a good example of how a certain
legal regulation may have an in uence on a narrated biography. Without
some modi cations or secrecy in descriptions of the route or on speci c
countries a person had transited through the person will not be allowed
to stay in the country of arrival, but will be sent back to the ‘safe- third-
country’ he or she passed through. This may explain why often only little
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Ethical challenges in research with vulnerable migrants 461
or no detailed information is to be found on the nal part of the migra-
tion trajectory towards Europe. One major challenge for the researcher in
this regard is that she or he requests a behaviour from the respondents’
side which is not only atypical with regard to the interview situations the
respondents normally nd themselves in, but she or he creates a situa-
tion where the respondents have to act contrary to their general survival
strategy, namely, by revealing private details. This opens a new eld of
attention, namely, the need for placing oneself as a researcher into context.
21.4 THE ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER IN
RESEARCH WITH VULNERABLE MIGRANTS
Researchers always hope to establish trustworthy relationships with their
respondents in order to obtain reliable, truthful answers to produce as
credible a research as possible. Establishing trust with respondents is,
however, context- bound and ‘usually has something to do with dynamics
of “giving” and “receiving”’ (Lammers, 2005, p. 8). Given this situation
it is important to understand participants’ perceptions and expectations
towards the researcher. This requires a serious re ection on:
● Who am I, the researcher, in the eyes of the respondents?
● What are the expectations from the participants’ side of research?
Feminist research has been extremely helpful in reciprocal understand-
ing of research processes and has found its way into the broader theoreti-
cal and methodological frameworks especially when it comes to questions
on how societal structures and institutions shape and impact migrants’
lives and their strategies to cope with it. This is maybe also why feminist
research has contributed a lot to refugee and asylum research (see, for
example, Temple and Moran, 2006). In terms of research ethics the recip-
rocal relation can make it di cult for researchers to follow rigid guidelines
and ethical codes. By strict ethical standards it is, for example, unethical
to become deeply involved and familiar with your informants. This will
contribute to a ‘distorted’ research process, produce biased information
and compromise ndings (Jacobsen and Landau, 2003). Apparently, it
is considered ‘unethical’ to give in a context de ned by power di erences
because giving further exacerbates these di erences. Whether to help
respondents or not is an ethical challenge that is open for debate and
strongly in uenced by one’s personal views. Lammers (2007), for example,
found herself paying for a variety of things for her respondents, from
passport size photos to letters of recommendations, appeals, requests and
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462 Handbook of research methods in migration
complaints to be typed and posted, to blood tests, hospital bills, monthly
rents and even school fees. She was also engaged in hands- on advocacy
work. She argues that it is rather unethical not to help respondents in need
(see also Markova, 2009).
Next to ethical questions around inequalities researchers also need to
have a certain readiness to deal with unexpected, traumatic or just dif-
ferent views, experiences and opinions that cannot always be evaluated
beforehand or are not always mentioned in ethical guidelines. Di erences
between the researcher and the participants in regard to legal and socio-
economic status, culture or education may have a strong e ect on the
nature of interaction in an interview setting and can go beyond ethical
rules on paper. An open attitude and re ection on methodological and
ethical decisions during the research process that allow for transparency
reduces tensions ‘because typically, marginalised persons rarely express
their view towards outsiders and “experts” often only have selective
knowledge about their lives’ (Achermann, 2009, p. 57).
21.5 POST FIELDWORK ETHICS
As research participants may follow a particular strategy when revealing
details of their life in order not to further jeopardize their future plans, the
interpretation of information collected constitutes again a very delicate
exercise. Researchers might, for example, realize that certain aspects of
the information collected seem unrealistic. It is an ethical choice on how
to deal with ‘inconsistencies’ in collected data. In order to assess research
insights in a responsible way researchers not only need to re ect on what
was disclosed but also what aspects were possibly not disclosed to the
researcher and why this was done. Putting information in context also
requires re ections on how participants have presented themselves and
their situation and when and particularly why participants could possibly
have kept certain details back or have ‘adapted’ their story. Analysing
collected information thus again asks for sensitivity and intuition with
regard to harms and bene ts of research especially when taking into
account that information revealed could be used against the participants
and researchers might be ‘bearers of secrets’ which are not meant to be
publicly known.
Once a study is nished the next step will be the dissemination of nd-
ings. Such dissemination may potentially reach di erent audiences, aca-
demics, policymakers, non- governmental organization (NGO) workers,
the media and the wider public. When placing information in the public
arena in a responsible way, researchers would, interestingly enough, need
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Ethical challenges in research with vulnerable migrants 463
to follow the same strategic patterns for balancing harms and bene ts as
respondents apply for providing information. They would also need to
distinguish between:
● Information that could lead to bene ts for participants.
● Information that would possibly have negative e ects on partici-
pants’ lives (or the group participants belong to).
● Information that could be considered ‘neutral’ by participants.
While balancing the nal harms and bene ts of research, researchers are
subject to a set of complex responsibilities. They not only have responsibil-
ities towards individual informants, but also towards social groups, their
co- academics, their funding body and society at large. As such, research-
ers need to take various levels into account: the individual as well as the
group level, the research eld and the wider societal level. This places extra
demands on the researchers for accuracy and sensitivity in assessing what
possible e ects of certain portrayals might have on all these various levels.
21.6 CONCLUSION
Ethics is about taking responsibility and ‘responsibility entails thinking
about the consequences of one’s actions on others, and the establishment
of clear lines of accountability and the redress of grievance’ (Dench et al.,
2004, p. 3). ‘Good’ quality research takes into account its responsibility
towards the individual, the group, the research eld and towards society.
It also addresses concerns over power which is of speci c relevance when
researching migration and even more so when involving migrants in a
vulnerable position. Who decides on who has a say and who has not, who
decides over the relevance of research for society? Thus, besides meth-
odological considerations, the questions of why the research is conducted
and why it is conducted in a speci c way are particularly important to
ask. ‘Good’ research also addresses the need to balance the potential for
harm against the need for research. Why do we actually need this type of
research and is it necessary to collect data on every single aspect? These
questions will, if carefully thought through, mitigate ethical tension
throughout the research process.
Taking into consideration that migration research has increasingly
developed into a policy supporting research eld where the topics and
directions of research are already prede ned by stakeholders also asks for
a critical approach towards the concepts used and the questions asked in
(commissioned) research. Understanding the migratory context and the
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464 Handbook of research methods in migration
institutional context in which participants move are of vital importance
for conducting good quality research in an ethically sound way. At the
same time it is important to avoid a ‘migration bias’ and to recognize that
participants are not only part of a speci c group. Researchers need to
take into consideration what in (vulnerable) migrants’ lives is determined
by the speci c institutional and social framework and what is actually
not.
Finally, it is important to acknowledge that ethical questions are not
static. They need to be raised and re ected from the very start of a project
when conceptualizing the research until placing the results in the public
arena and need to be balanced against methodological and practical
issues. General ethical guidelines are a good start for discussion but often
it is up to the individual researcher to make a decision and to decide on
a case- by- case basis what is best. Sharing considerations and experiences
with other researchers will contribute to a much needed discussion on
methodological and ethical developments in the eld of migration and a
step forwards on our way to better understand ‘how to do it right’.
NOTES
1. See Anderson et al. (Chapter 18, this volume) for an example of research on illegal
migration.
2. See Oxford (Chapter 19, this volume) for an example of research on asylum seekers.
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466 Handbook of research methods in migration
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