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Refugee Survey Quarterly 2007 26(3):61-71; doi:10.1093/rsq/hdi0243
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© UNHCR 2007, all rights reserved

The challenges of conducting research among rural-based refugees in Uganda

Deborah Mulumba *

Department of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda


  Abstract

The article seeks to describe some of the critical methodological and ethical dilemmas that challenge the conventional social research. The paper is a reflection of the research experience in two rural refugee settlements by a scholar1 who completed her doctoral studies on refugee issues in northern Uganda not so long ago. While the study population comprised the Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda, the article in passing also alludes to the other aspects of research with other refugee nationalities in Uganda including the Banyarwanda, Congolese and Somalis (although no specific study of them is mentioned in this paper). The article focuses on the following issues: problems associated with protocol to conduct research amongst refugees in refugee settlements; accessing refugees in the rural settlements; methodological problems and ethical challenges; sampling difficulties in a highly mobile refugee population; accuracy of data, taboos and maximization of resources; obtaining informed consent; in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. For illustration purposes, a case study is included in the text. Lastly, the paper ends with concluding remarks.

Key Words: refuge • research • informed consent • rural refugee settlements • Uganda

* Deborah Mulumba, PhD Lecturer, Department of Women and Gender Studies, Mekerere University, Kampala, Uganda.


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