The IMISCOE Standing Committee “Methodological Approaches and Tools in Migration Research” (Meth@Mig) in collaboration with the Junior professorship “Intercultural Praxis with a focus on Digital Culture” at Chemnitz University of Technology* invites researchers of any methodological orientation to participate in the
4th Annual Meth@Mig Workshop
Between Data and Dialogue: Focusing on Participants in Migration Research
to be held on April 3-4, 2025
at Chemnitz University of Technology
(Chemnitz, Germany)
Submission deadline extended to December 31, 2024!
Keynote speaker:
Tuba Bircan
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
In migration research, as in social research more generally, the role of participants is critical in shaping both the data collected and the knowledge generated from it. Depending on the methodological approach and research question, participants may be seen as mere providers of information, or be involved as more active contributors and co-creators of knowledge. How researchers engage with participants profoundly influences the results, ethical considerations, and validity of studies. This also holds true with respect to long-established qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-mode approaches, but also considering methods building on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and digital behavioral data, where the continuum may run from the collection of digital traces of individuals that are not even aware of being studied to their voluntary, informed data donations.
Therefore, this workshop will focus on the role that participants may play in any stage of the research cycle, spanning from a project's design phase to the dissemination of its results. This workshop aims to facilitate a discussion on how different methodologies influence the role of participants and gain insight into the ethical challenges that arise when involving or excluding them at different stages. Possible topics that might be addressed include (without being limited to them):
- Scientific Quality: How does the role of participants in research have an impact on overall scientific quality, including validity and reliability of the data and research results, and the rigor of data collection, analysis, or interpretation?
- Ethical Considerations: What kind of complex ethical responsibilities (e.g., who is responsible for protecting participants and avoiding potential harm) and complex power relations (e.g., persistence of the power dynamics even though participants are actively involved in research) arise depending on the role of participants in research?
- Practical Issues: What practical issues arise if participants have varying levels of engagement in the research process, including questions of dataset ownership, data management and protection, and entitlement to authorship of research outputs?
- Impact of Methodological Innovation: What new complexities arise with the use of emerging methodologies and data sources?
We welcome contributions from any methodological school or angle (e.g., qualitative, survey-based, mixed, relying on digital trace data) that critically explore the role of participants in research, examining the ethical and methodological implications of treating participants as data providers versus involving participants as active collaborators in the research process.
A clear methodological focus is required for all contributions.
The workshop will consist of brief oral presentations of accepted contributions, but the focus will be on open exchange and discussion of the presented work and positions. This format will, therefore, leave ample room for discussion amongst the workshop participants. To stimulate debate, Tuba Bircan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) will kick off the event with a keynote speech.
The in-person workshop is organized by IMISCOE’s Standing Committee on Methodological Approaches and Tools in Migration Research (Meth@Mig) in collaboration with the Junior professorship “Intercultural Praxis with a focus on Digital Culture” at Chemnitz University of Technology and will be held on April 3 and 4, 2025 in Chemnitz (Germany), the European Capital of Culture 2025. There are no participation fees, but attendees must bear their travel and accommodation costs.
Please send an abstract of your planned contribution (approx. 300 words) to
Please visit the workshop website for additional information.
Download the pdf version of the call here.
Organizing Committee:
Steffen Pötzschke
Sebastian Rinken
Carmen Pereyra
* Chemnitz University of Technology and Meth@Mig/IMISCOE do not create a separate legal entity (ohne Begründung einer eigenen Rechtsperson).
