Pre-conference Workshop
We are happy to be able to offer two hands-on method workshops that will take place on August 21 (morning) in parallel! Participation is limited to 20 people.
Workshop by Philipp Jugert & Sauro Civitillo: Reflective Migration Research with Quantitative Methods
(Contact: philipp.jugert@uni-due.de, s.civitillo@uu.nl)
How to best capture participant heterogeneity related to ethnicity, race, religion, heritage, and culture poses an ongoing dilemma for researchers focusing on migration and integration. In this workshop, participants will be encouraged to examine variability within social categories when applied to study migration phenomena using quantitative methods. Quantitative research has a high standing both among scientists and the lay public because it is often seen as objective and factual. Yet, quantitative researchers tend to ignore the socially constructed nature of quantitative data and presuppose that quantitative data speak the truth, thereby ignoring their own role and potential biases in the research process. Centering on QuantCrit (Garcia et al., 2018; Gillborn et al., 2018), a framework for using quantitative research that draws on critical race theory (CRT), this workshop aims to improve participants’ understanding of the centrality of racism; the acknowledgment that numbers are not neutral; the reality that categories are neither ‘natural’ nor given; to reflect critically on the terminology being employed (e.g., “migration background” or “migrant”); and that statistical analyses have no inherent value, but they can play a role in struggles for social justice. Participants will have to opportunity to learn and discuss how to do quantitative research on race-ethnicity, migration and integration in a critical and reflective way, while considering the peculiarities around issues of race-ethnicity in their specific context.
Workshop by Johanna M Lukate: (Towards) Doing Critical Qualitative Research on Migration and Diversity
(Contact: lukate@mmg.mpg.de)
The world we inhabit remains deeply unjust, with social, economic, and political disparities persisting and marginalised communities and individuals facing ongoing discrimination. This world is also marked by steady flows of migration and the dynamics of diverse societies. Debates about how migration and diversity influence and will influence the social fabric of societies are shaped by discourses around questions of belonging, representation and Othering. In this context, critical research methodologies such as feminist theory and Indigenous-led approaches address how power and the intersections of gender, race, language, migration status, socioeconomic status, and more influence research development and the research process. Through these methodologies, we are encouraged to critically engage with questions such as who conducts research, how is research conducted, and what’s its impact?
Centred on researching migration and diversity in contemporary societies, this workshop offers participants an opportunity to deepen their understanding of how research and the methodological choices we make in doing research can either perpetuate or dismantle problematic categories, contributing to or mitigating Othering. The workshop provides a collaborative space for participants to reflect on their own research and how and from where they enter the field – the relationship between research and power, as well as loci of enunciation, positionality and reflexivity will be discussed.
The workshop assumes that participants have basic knowledge of qualitative research methods. Qualitative research experience is an advantage.