A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants

Recent reflections on the study of forced migration stress the importance of constructing ethically sound research relationships that both respect research participants as autonomous agents and protect them from all forms of harm in the research process. Although this is important, very little resea...

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Main Author: Madziva, Roda
Format: Article
Published: Policy Press 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30990/
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author Madziva, Roda
author_facet Madziva, Roda
author_sort Madziva, Roda
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description Recent reflections on the study of forced migration stress the importance of constructing ethically sound research relationships that both respect research participants as autonomous agents and protect them from all forms of harm in the research process. Although this is important, very little research in this area has focused directly on the production of intimacy in the research process and how intimate research relationships that are produced can subsequently become the basis on which disclosures are shared and how this can contribute to both the quality of the research process and output. In this article I reflect on my intimate research relationship with Zimbabwean migrant parents who I interviewed in the United Kingdom. I argue that there is an element of (gift) exchange to intimate qualitative research encounters that yields benefits to both the researcher and the researched. In so doing, I also highlight some of the ethical dilemmas I encountered and how they were overcome
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spelling nottingham-309902020-05-04T17:18:08Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30990/ A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants Madziva, Roda Recent reflections on the study of forced migration stress the importance of constructing ethically sound research relationships that both respect research participants as autonomous agents and protect them from all forms of harm in the research process. Although this is important, very little research in this area has focused directly on the production of intimacy in the research process and how intimate research relationships that are produced can subsequently become the basis on which disclosures are shared and how this can contribute to both the quality of the research process and output. In this article I reflect on my intimate research relationship with Zimbabwean migrant parents who I interviewed in the United Kingdom. I argue that there is an element of (gift) exchange to intimate qualitative research encounters that yields benefits to both the researcher and the researched. In so doing, I also highlight some of the ethical dilemmas I encountered and how they were overcome Policy Press 2015-11-01 Article PeerReviewed Madziva, Roda (2015) A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants. Families, Relationships and Societies, 4 (3). pp. 465-480. ISSN 2046-7443 Gift exchange Migrant parents Zimbabwean Children relationship http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/frs/2015/00000004/00000003/art00008?token=00571b580041b17a70d5c5f3b3b474673486b347070497959245a4f582a2f433e402c3568263c2bd244523a doi:10.1332/204674313X13872827681557 doi:10.1332/204674313X13872827681557
spellingShingle Gift exchange
Migrant parents
Zimbabwean
Children
relationship
Madziva, Roda
A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
title A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
title_full A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
title_fullStr A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
title_full_unstemmed A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
title_short A gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
title_sort gift exchange relationship?: reflections on doing qualitative research with vulnerable migrants
topic Gift exchange
Migrant parents
Zimbabwean
Children
relationship
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30990/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30990/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/30990/