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“A general solution is not in sight!” – this could be one conclusion from the methods workshop “(Under)Representation of Migrants in Surveys and Panel Studies”, which was held in Wiesbaden on 31 March and 1 April. The problem is too multi-layered and complex for that. Nevertheless, the exchange of experiences, the discussions and contributions were very informative and productive for all participants.
Interest in FReDA's hybrid event was very high with 97 participants from research and the policy field. Around 20 different research groups and institutes shared their experiences with large population surveys, as well as with specific studies on groups with a migration background. They highlighted the background and approaches of the respective surveys, explained the strategies for a representative participation of the focused population groups, and discussed successes in implementation.
You can find a video documentation of numerous lectures of the workshop here.
It quickly became clear that all panels and surveys face the same special challenges with regard to the representation of migrants. The reasons for this are diverse. For example, this is a very heterogeneous group of people, which includes people with a wide variety of individual migration histories. It can include refugees, but also people that grew up in Germany. Thus, the reasons for and circumstances of migration, as well as the respective countries of origin and cultures of the individuals differ greatly.
In addition, many people in this target group have a high degree of spatial mobility. This often results in difficulties in making contact, which in turn influences the stability of a panel.
There is also often low acceptance or low trust in social science studies among migrants, often because the understanding for the societal benefit of the study is missing or because migrants are worried about the study having a negative impact on them personally. These factors lower the motivation to participate.
Finally, of course, language barriers also affect the participation of people in this target group. In particular, refugees who have not been in Germany for long have (at least initially) little knowledge of the language. This is accompanied by the observation that among the migrants who participate in a survey, there was an above-average number of people with a higher level of education. Correspondingly, the participation of a particular group of migrants is also related to how they are distributed across different educational qualifications or even other socio-demographic characteristics.
At the workshop, numerous measures were discussed that aim to counteract, at least partially, the problem of underrepresentation of immigrants. It became clear that although researchers have already tried a variety of methods, there is not one approach that is equally effective and successful for all surveys.
Already in the case of sample access, various methods are conceivable that have been applied in projects and should ensure a higher proportion of migrants among the respondents. For example, oversampling or targeted return to specific list sampling frames such as the IAB's Integrated Employment Biographies or the Central Register of Foreigners. A group-specific approach applied already in the letter to the respondents – e.g. using easy-to-understand language, graphics and multilingual info boxes – or additional incentivization were mentioned as further steps to mobilize the target group. In order to (approximately) identify a certain group of migrants in advance and to be able to address them specifically, for example in their native language, onomastic procedures are sometimes used, which can be quite successful, especially among the Turkish and Arabic-speaking populations.
To reduce language problems, questionnaires have been sent in multiple languages, the use of translation support and interpreters have been offered, or interviewers who speak the same native language as the migrants being interviewed have been used.
The use of different modes of questioning was also evaluated. This showed that a (native speaker) interviewer can act as a door opener in certain cases. The personal interview, especially during the initial contact, is particularly promising, but also particularly expensive.
Excerpt from the virtual whiteboard of the FReDA method workshop.
A general solution that works equally well for all studies and research objectives could not be identified. Although individual solutions can be found for many challenges, they are often very expensive and also very resource-intensive in terms of the lead time for surveys and the personnel required to carry them out. Moreover, not all of them are equally effective.
The best-practice strategies presented by the speakers at FReDA's methods workshop, which they used in an attempt to still meet the requirement that a survey be representative, also showed that a great deal depends on the survey’s goal and resources.
Despite the different goals, budgets and approaches of the workshop participants: The approach of "researching with" instead of "researching about" was noted by the plenary as a promising approach to counteract the problem of underrepresentation of migrants in surveys and panels.
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