Quantitative methodological dilemmas in urban refugee research: a case study of Johannesburg

Survey research on refugee and migrant populations can provide invaluable information, but in order to generate this information it is necessary to confront a variety of methodological challenges. It has proved particularly difficult to generate representative samples of mobile populations in developing cities, where refugees and asylum seekers attempt to ‘hide’ from surveyors, and conventional sampling frames are confounded by intractable urban landscapes and a shortage of reliable baselines. This collection of papers addresses these problems by drawing on a decade of survey research in a city where these problems are especially acute: Johannesburg, South Africa. The contributors reflect on their field experiences, and associated successes and failures, in order to generate practical guidance and tips for researchers and practitioners working on similar issues elsewhere. In particular, the collection challenges the notion that representativity is an unachievable ideal in survey research on refugee populations, and thereby develops concepts and techniques to further refine sampling methods.