Blogging is all a bit new to me. The last time I wrote an entry was about 7 years ago about being stranded on a sand bank in an Australian river with crocodiles all around. This entry will be less dramatic, but more important.
Looking at integration in hopes of improving refugee lives
I have been conducting a research study about refugee integration for the past 18 months or so, a project that is about half way through at the moment. I am trying to find out about many different aspects of refugees’ lives here, in the hope that findings can be used to improve things in the future.
Research is both interesting and challenging
It’s been an interesting process. The first issue was trying to get refugees and asylum seekers to fill in a questionnaire. There were times when I didn’t think we were going to get enough responses, but thanks to other agencies help, we managed to get 262 responses, which are now in a report.
Refugees share experiences about their lives
The latest stage, which I’ve just finished, has been interviewing 30 of those who filled in the questionnaire. A lot of the questions I have asked are about the same issues in the questionnaire, but it’s more of a conversation and people have talked about many different experiences, some good and some bad.
Allowing people to tell their stories in this way gives a life to research projects. It can be an emotional process as many stories begin with details of arrival in Britain after fleeing terrible persecution. Interviewees often tell me how glad they are that they got to tell their story too, so hopefully it can be cathartic as well.
Next stages of research
The next stage is doing focus groups with refugees. This is always both interesting and challenging but it gives people the chance to bounce ideas and opinions off each other. The report on the interviews will come out in the autumn, with the focus group report in the winter – and all without a crocodile in sight.
