Implementation of cross-country migration surveys in conflict-affected settings: Lessons from the IS Academy survey in Burundi and Ethiopia
Sonja Fransen, Katherine Kuschminder & Melissa Siegel
#2012-019
The past decades have seen a rise of survey research in migration
studies, which is often cross-national due to the very nature of
migration. Conducting cross-country surveys presents challenges for
researchers in terms of survey design, implementation, and data
collection. A thematic focus on migration brings additional challenges
due to the complexity of migration, issues of definitions, sampling and
the geographical areas of interest. This paper gives insight into the
practicalities of implementing a migration household survey in a
developing country, conflict-affected setting. By focusing on these
settings this paper is one of the few to target survey methodology in a
non-developed country context. We highlight specific areas for attention
within survey implementation stages: (1) scoping, (2) survey design, (3)
training, (4) pilot, and (5) data collection. We specifically use the
examples of the IS Academy project in Ethiopia and Burundi, hereby
highlighting the differences between the two countries. The aim of this
paper is to give practical guidelines for researchers and practitioners
working in the area of migration research.
Keywords: cross-country survey research; migration research;
conflict-affected settings; Burundi; Ethiopia
JEL codes: Y, Z