Good practice in research on refugees and asylum seekers

Guidelines agreed by the membership of the ESRC seminar series on eliciting the views of refugees and people seeking asylum

There has been an explosion of research on refugees and asylum seekers but, very frequently, research approaches may be inappropriate and unethical for a highly vulnerable and ever-changing population. It is for this reason that the ESRC have produced these guidelines.

As a whole, the following guidelines attempt to present the ideal research process. However in practice, we recognise that researchers are faced with limitations (often financial) that mean it is not necessarily possible for them to adhere to all the points that follow. In such circumstances, it would be helpful and ethical for the researcher to specify the constraints under which they are working and the effects of those constraints on the research. Research should be set within the professional ethics code of the appropriate professional body e.g. Social Research Association, the British Sociological Association etc.

Good practice in research projects: Approach

From the outset:

· States clearly what the researchers’ aims are and what they want to try and do with the research findings from the outset;
· Enables real informed consent of participants by researchers communicating about their funding sources and any conditions associated with the acceptance of those funds from the outset;
· The research should conform to data protection legislation;
· The research should set up procedures that ensure that agreements about confidentiality that are reached with involved refugee and asylum seeking people are adhered to;
· Aims to address issues that affect refugee and asylum seeking people and therefore includes the voices of refugee and people seeking asylum;
· Acknowledges that refugees and asylum seeking people have very valuable knowledge about the British system that derives from their own experience;
· Is open with refugee and asylum seeking people about the extent to which the researchers on the project intend to share the power to shape and influence the project;
· Knows what existing research in the area has shown and justifies its usefulness in terms of benefits to the people who are refugees and asylum seekers.

Is transparent and pro-active in consultation:

· Research that intends to consult with, rather than actively engage the participation of, refugee and people seeking asylum, makes this intention transparent from the outset;
· Research that intends actively to engage the participation of refugee and people seeking asylum, rather than merely consult with them, specifies how they are going to ensure the meaningful participation of refugee and asylum seeking people in collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating research data and findings;
· Specifies which sections of communities/groups are being involved (e.g. self-appointed leaders, accountable leaders, voluntary organisation reps, women);
· Generates individual and community/group level capacity building e.g. helping the development of skills for creating and implementing action plans and/or initiating research themselves and/or advocacy capacity;
· Recognises that the refugee and asylum seeking communities/groups are heterogeneous i.e. there is no one community/group group or voice and therefore empowering one section of the community/group may cut across the position of another section;
· Describes how to include the involvement of refugee and asylum seeking people in developing their plans for feedback to communities/groups or groups who are the focus of their research;
· Describes how to include the involvement of refugee and asylum seeking people in developing their plans for dissemination, and who they want to disseminate to, from the outset.

Overall:

· Ensures that the project has adequate resources to achieve its aims. This is especially relevant when researching with/about a population group such as refugee and people seeking asylum. They may have many reasons for being wary of becoming involved in research/sharing their stories/describing how they feel and therefore require a large investment in the early stages of the project for them to become involved. In this way, the ‘hard-to-reach’ label ceases to function as a catch-all excuse for not involving refugee and asylum seeking people;
· Is open to different ways of seeing, interpreting and acting in the world so that the varying perspectives held by different people involved in the research are able to be articulated and demonstrated;
· Seeks to re-present information about refugee and asylum seeking people through the conscious use of positive language;
· Recognises that whilst researchers cannot control what is done with their research once it is in the public domain, they need to be aware of the wider political context concerning refugees and asylum seekers and responsibly thinks through the implications and impact of their findings.

Good practice in research projects: Methods

· Prepares and supports community/group researchers adequately by creating regular opportunities for community/group researchers to reflect on their own research activity with experienced and trustworthy colleagues and by integrating opportunities for the development of themselves and their communities/groups through the research;
· Matches method to purpose of research e.g. uses methods such as focus groups where the purpose is to generate and gather group data rather than record individual views; uses collaboratively developed closed questionnaires for individual views where appropriate;
· Is open to exploring different channels for contacting people for their involvement i.e. beyond the local community/group centre;
· Recognises that, because there are differences in the way the world is described in different languages, the language(s) used inside of the research process can effect the research findings;
· Articulates researchers understanding that the use of different methods can position those involved in power relationships with one another e.g. presenting quantitative/qualitative data using exclusive and technical, but actually unnecessarily complicated, jargon;
· Uses methods that draw out the differences in ways of seeing, interpreting and acting the world i.e. using techniques that make it possible for people to define their world in their own terms and not assuming that the researcher is the only/an expert;
· Specifies the effects that the choice of method has upon who from refugee and asylum seeking communities/groups can have a voice in the research and, conversely, who cannot;
· Values and accepts the description of experiences on their own terms, even if this does not build on prior established knowledge e.g.eviction into destitution is a new experience for refugees and asylum seekers in Britain and the methods selected for use should be chosen for their capacity to release new knowledge.

The ESRC seminar series has been running since 2002 and the guidelines were finalised following a presentation at the Home Office National Conference on Integration (29-30 June 2004). Representatives of organisations are invited to add in their names/organisations as supporting them. Deadline end of August.

Contact Rhetta.Moran R.Moran@salford.ac.uktop