The politics of human trafficking : conducting in-person interviews during fieldwork in eastern europe /
This study focuses on the topic of human trafficking in Eastern Europe (specifically, a case study of Lithuania). During my Fulbright stay in the country in 2011-2012, I was perplexed by official refusal to acknowledge an extent of human trafficking occurring to/from Lithuania. I was also puzzled ab...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
London :
SAGE Publications Ltd,
2019.
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| Series: | SAGE Research Methods. Cases.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | This study focuses on the topic of human trafficking in Eastern Europe (specifically, a case study of Lithuania). During my Fulbright stay in the country in 2011-2012, I was perplexed by official refusal to acknowledge an extent of human trafficking occurring to/from Lithuania. I was also puzzled about significant discrepancies in the numbers of trafficking victims reported by Lithuanian government and non-governmental organizations, and referenced in academic publications. Such inconsistencies in data and public narratives suggested to me that human trafficking is treated as a highly sensitive and politicized issue in the country. My project's goal was to find out through in-person interviews with different actors--namely, anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations' staff, government officials, and academics (a total of 21 respondents)--potential reasons behind politicization of, and sensitivity toward, the scope of human trafficking phenomenon present in Lithuania. Based on my summer-long field research in Lithuania in 2014, which was funded by an International Research and Exchange Board, Short-Term Grant, this study identifies and discusses the methodological and logistical research challenges, specifically addressing questions such as why in-person interviewing was chosen as a research method and what kind of challenges researchers may face in sampling strategies and in preparation for interviews on a politically sensitive topic, and, finally, highlighting specific problems related to qualitative interview-based research in the Eastern European context. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781526465979 1526465973 |