Training Material: Doing Research with Refugees: Issues and Guidelines

 Doing Research with Refugees: Issues and Guidelines
 Edited by Bogusia Temple and Rhetta Moran, The Policy Press
 ISBN 1861345984, £60

 STAR RATING: 4/5

Each of the 11 chapters describes a research study that has engaged as participants people seeking asylum or who have achieved refugee status, writes Kelvin Karim.

The contributors describe their use of qualitative methods (including biographical, focus group and face-to-face interviews) in the kind of detail that is all too often lacking from most qualitative research reports. The difficulties presented for researchers who wish to involve participants who speak a language other than English and the use of interpreters are two examples of the many issues in the book.

Written in a straightforward and understandable style, it will be of interest to those working with asylum seekers and refugees in health and social care settings.

It is also more likely to be an invaluable resource for researchers intending to carry out research involving participants from other cultures. Qualitative researchers may well glean something of the pitfalls involved. The guidelines contained in an appendix may also provide a useful framework for good practice in planning research methods.

Obtaining a shared or lending library copy may be the antidote to the hefty price tag. Making available a paperback version would offer better value for money for those who want their own copy.

Kelvin Karim is TB clinical nurse specialist, Doncaster Central Primary Care Trust