(Not)New Questions in New Contexts (Methodological and Ethical Problems in the Studies of Refugees From Ukraine)
Research Article
How to Cite
Brednikova O.E. (Not)New Questions in New Contexts (Methodological and Ethical Problems in the Studies of Refugees From Ukraine). Interaction. Interview. Interpretation. 2023. Vol. 15. No. 2. P. 34-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2023.15.2.2 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article is devoted to reflection on the experience of field research of refugees from Ukraine. It examines methodological and ethical issues and problems. The article aims to identify problematic points and to demonstrate how methodological sensitivity and reflexivity can help to find relevant research focuses and interpretative frameworks. The first section of the article is devoted to research strategies, in particular the problems of “fast” and “slow” research, as well as issues of observations and specifics of interviewing of refugees. The use of mosaic methodology, research strategies of “fast” and “slow” sociology, different sources, etc. allows researchers to find non-trivial research focuses.The second section of the article is devoted to the relationship between the researcher and the research subject. On the one hand, the humanitarian perspective universalizes suffering, on the other hand, it allows establishing trusting and personalized relationships and working with the sensitive topics. The section also raises the questions of the interviewer’s emotional empathy and trust issues.
Keywords:
research methodology, humanitarian perspective of research, research ethics, refugees from Ukraine
References
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Sasse G., Lackner A. (2020) The Displaced as “Ordinary Citizens”: Exploring Variation in the Political Attitudes of the Displaced from Donbas. Europe-Asia Studies. 2020. Vol. 72. No. 3. P. 354–382. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2020.1725448
Shtorn E. (2021) #hroniki_bezhenstva [Chronicles of the Refugee]. St. Petersburg: Poryadok Slov. (In Russ.)
Ticktin M. (2014) Transnational Humanitarianism. Annual Review of Anthropology. Vol. 43. P. 273–289. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102313-030403
Zvonareva O.I., Kontareva A.Yu., Popova E.V. (2021) Vvedenie [Introduction]. In: O. Zvonareva, A. Kontareva, E. Popova (eds.) Novoe vremya, novoe pole: Menyayushchijsya mir kachestvennyh issledovanij i novye tekhnologii [New Time, New Field: the Changing World of Qualitative Research and New Technologies]. St. Petersburg: Aleteya. P. 8–46. (In Russ.)
Gumanitarnaya nauka posle 24 fevralya [The Humanities After February 24th] (2023) Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie [New Literary Observer]. Transl. from Eng. by D. Aronson. No. 178. P. 29–63. (In Russ.)
Hugman R., Pittaway E., Bartolomei L. (2011) When “Do No Harm” Is Not Enough: The Ethics of Research with Refugees and Other Vulnerable Groups. British Journal of Social Work. Vol. 41. No. 7. P. 1271–1287. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcr013
Malkki L. (1996) Speechless Emissaries: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and Dehistoricization. Cultural Anthropology. Vol. 11. No. 3. P. 377–404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/can.1996.11.3.02a00050
Melnikova E.A, Vasileva Z.S. (2023) Posleslovie k neopublikovannomu [Afterwards to an Unpublished Forum]. Antropologicheskij forum [Forum for Anthropology and Culture]. No. 56. P. 11–22. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.31250/1815-8870-2023-19-56-11-22
Prokofyev A.V. (2017) Styd bez “oka drugih” (Eticheskij analiz desocializirovannoj koncepcii styda) [Shame Without the “Eye of Others” (An Ethical Analysis of the Desocialized Conception of Shame]. Chelovek [Chelovek]. No. 4. P. 38–51. (In Russ.)
Sasse G., Lackner A. (2020) The Displaced as “Ordinary Citizens”: Exploring Variation in the Political Attitudes of the Displaced from Donbas. Europe-Asia Studies. 2020. Vol. 72. No. 3. P. 354–382. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2020.1725448
Shtorn E. (2021) #hroniki_bezhenstva [Chronicles of the Refugee]. St. Petersburg: Poryadok Slov. (In Russ.)
Ticktin M. (2014) Transnational Humanitarianism. Annual Review of Anthropology. Vol. 43. P. 273–289. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102313-030403
Zvonareva O.I., Kontareva A.Yu., Popova E.V. (2021) Vvedenie [Introduction]. In: O. Zvonareva, A. Kontareva, E. Popova (eds.) Novoe vremya, novoe pole: Menyayushchijsya mir kachestvennyh issledovanij i novye tekhnologii [New Time, New Field: the Changing World of Qualitative Research and New Technologies]. St. Petersburg: Aleteya. P. 8–46. (In Russ.)
Article
Received: 02.05.2023
Accepted: 27.06.2023
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APA
Brednikova, O. E. (2023). (Not)New Questions in New Contexts (Methodological and Ethical Problems in the Studies of Refugees From Ukraine). Interaction. Interview. Interpretation, 15(2), 34-50. https://doi.org/10.19181/inter.2023.15.2.2
Section
Theoretical discourses and debates

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