RT Journal Article
T1 Doing Qualitative Research with Migrants as a Native Citizen: Reflections from Spain
A1 Martín Pérez, Alberto
AB In order to look for new ways of evaluating immigration policies, I started research based on direct observations and qualitative interviews within the Oficinas de Extranjeros—the Spanish Offices for Immigration. I soon realised that my position as a researcher in this context was controversial, related to the fact that I was a Spanish citizen among foreigners, in a place where the only Spanish citizens were policemen or civil servants. I reflected upon this divide and the way in which I was, I felt, being perceived as part of the "institution": as a middle-class Spanish citizen with little "obviously" in common with the immigrants I sought to research. Reflecting on this led me to test a number of research "strategies" in an attempt to break through the insider/outsider barriers between migrant and non-migrant. The paper will reflect upon these strategies, and more generally, it will review the difficulties and dilemmas of becoming an insider (a friend) whilst beginning as an obvious outsider (a stranger). URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs060319
PB Institut für Qualitative Forschung
YR 2006
FD 2006
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130979
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130979
LA eng
NO Martín Pérez, A. (2006). Doing Qualitative Research with Migrants as a Native Citizen: Reflections from Spain. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-7.3.135
DS Docta Complutense
RD 18 mar 2026