Surveying Forced Migrants, Partners and Children: Insights from the Displaced Persons in Austria Survey (DiPAS)

Beschreibung

Given the recent increase in asylum applications at the European level, representative studies of refugees as a specific population group are indispensable. However, the social sciences, and especially family research, are confronted with a significant lack of quantitative data on forced migrants. This is especially true for Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers from the fall of 2015. To address this perceptible research gap, the "Displaced Persons in Austria Survey (DiPAS)" was conducted in seven NGO-run refugee accommodations in and around Vienna in November and December 2015. Quantitative interviews were conducted in Arabic, Farsi, and English, with the aim of capturing respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, migration costs and routes, educational attainments and professional qualifications, marital status and family reunification potential, as well as attitudes, values, and future plans. The paper presents the methodological approach of DiPAS, experiences from the questionnaire preparation, and insights from the field phase. Findings address four key challenges faced by surveys of the highly mobile and vulnerable group of forced migrants, namely (1) representativity, (2) language barriers, (3) ethical considerations, and (4) cultural diversity. Recommendations for planning longitudinal, cross-cultural studies on forced migration in the current European context are presented.

Zeitraum	9 Nov. 2017 → 11 Nov. 2017
Ereignistitel	5th European Congress of Family Science
Veranstaltungstyp	Keine Angaben
Bekanntheitsgrad	National