Participatory Qualitative Methodology: A Promising Pathway for the Study of Intergenerational Relations Within Migrant Families

Abstract

In this paper we present and examine the relevance, feasibility, results and limitations of a qualitative approach to the analysis of relations between generations, based on several earlier studies carried out on intergenerational relations and dynamics within migrant families. While situating this intergenerational analysis approach within a migratory context at the heart of broader contexts of qualitative research, we also identify the epistemological perspectives from which we have determined our methodological approach: participation, understanding, narrative and history. We will then critically review the tools used for the collection of data and the analytical methods employed in these different studies: individual and family interviews, genograms, network maps, individual and family trajectories, intergenerational transmission maps, oral and written narratives, and multi-authored diaries, for example. We will consider the importance of employing multicultural and multigenerational teams when carrying out this type of research and examine the effects of this on both the material obtained and the collective analysis. We will also look at the role of the different actors in this participatory type of approach. Throughout the text we will reflect on the hypothesis that a qualitative, participatory methodology, combined with quantitative methods, enables a new understanding of intergenerational and transnational processes during immigration. In this way broader trends can emerge and pathways to change can inform both actors on the ground and decision-makers and legislators. In these divers projects we considered intergenerational exchange as a central dimension of transmission processes, decision-making, support and mutual assistance. A complex methodology, synchronic and diachronic at the same time, is crucial if we are to understand how intergenerational exchanges within migration occur and acquire meaning in the life-course of both young people, their parents and their grandparents.