Install the app
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
Menu
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
You don't have anything in your basket.
Member rate £492.50
Non-Member rate £985.00
* If you attended our Methods School during the calendar years 2024 or 2025, you qualify for £45 off your course fee.
Date: Monday 12 – Friday 16 May 2025
Time: 14:00 – 17:00 CEST
This course provides an interactive online learning environment, using state of the art pedagogical tools. It is designed for advanced students (Master’s and PhD), postdoctoral researchers, and professionals. The course is limited to a maximum of 16 participants, ensuring that the teaching team can address the unique needs of each individual.
This course focuses on planning, preparing and conducting field research in challenging environments, including closed/authoritarian political settings and conflict/post-conflict/post-war contexts. Focused on the ethics and practical aspects of conducting fieldwork in such environments, the course provides hands-on training that covers a wide range of topics, including risk assessment and mitigation, the application of common field research methods, data management, and re-entry into the field.
The course will be most beneficial for participants specialising in Peace and Conflict Studies, International Relations as well as the studies of forced migration and authoritarianism.
By the end of the course, you will:
3 ECTS credits awarded for engaging fully in class activities.
1 additional ECTS credit awarded for completing a post-course assignment.
Vera Axyonova is Assistant Professor / Lecturer at the University of Birmingham and founding Co-chair of the ECPR Research Network on Statehood, Sovereignty and Conflict.
She has extensive experience in conducting research in closed/authoritarian political environments, highly volatile conflict/post-conflict settings, and in the context of war.
Vera's research and teaching expertise include international security and conflict management, cross-border transfer of values, norms and practices, as well as crisis knowledge production and policy evaluation.
She specialises in methods such as reflexive interviewing, expert and elite interviews, focus groups, ethnographic fieldwork in challenging and sensitive contexts, research ethics, and data management.
Vera has offered methods training in these areas at various universities across the globe, including the University of Birmingham, George Washington University, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, German-Kazakh University, University of Latvia, University of Tartu. She also taught at the pre-conference workshop series for early career researchers at the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) Conference in 2023.
Read more about Vera's research here.
The first session will provide a general introduction to field research and delve into planning and practical preparation for fieldwork, including ethical and legal considerations. It will also explore preliminary risk assessment and mitigation, data management plan, and preparing for the Ethics Committee review.
During this session, we will cover the aspects of conducting participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, and gathering life histories in conflict-torn and closed political settings. We will focus on questions related to navigating unfamiliar and insecure environments (continuous risk assessment and mitigation), researcher positionality, the study of (and work around) sensitive topics, fieldwork in collaboration with local research assistants and interpreters, and data documentation.
During this session, we will cover both theoretical and practical aspects of expert and elite interviewing and delve into opportunities and challenges of using these methods for qualitative data generation in difficult political environments. You will familiarise yourself with the main principles of structuring interview guidelines, sampling, getting access to relevant interviewees, interviewing strategies and techniques, and immediate ‘post-preparation’ of interviews. We will focus on expert and elite interviews in insecure settings, dealing with critical involving sensitive topics, and raising awareness of and navigating public surveillance in authoritarian environments.
In this session, you will cover the main questions related to planning, preparing and conducting group interviews and focus groups in international contexts. This includes sampling strategies, securing access and recruiting participants, facilitating and moderating group discussions, and documenting the results. You will also look at the Dos and Don’ts of using these methods in authoritarian and conflict-torn settings.
You will learn the differences between focus groups and group interviews as well as their limitations in challenging research environments. You will also familiarise yourself with the protection mechanisms for researchers and research participants in an insecure field.
The final session will focus on recurring fieldwork in challenging environments, securing the possibility to return, participatory aspects of field research, and adapting research design, including the use of alternative data collection methods if on-the-ground fieldwork becomes impossible. This session will complete the cycle by reiterating the importance of recurring risk assessment and adapting mitigation strategies throughout the data collection in the field.
Live classes will be held daily for three hours on Zoom, allowing you to interact with both the instructor and other participants in real time.
The course combines pre-class assignments, such as readings and pre-recorded videos, with daily live online sessions.
In the live sessions, the instructor will provide short contributions that complement the readings and offer insights from the instructor’s own field research. These will be accompanied by interactive discussions in plenum and collaborative group exercises in breakout rooms.
You will be encouraged to reflect on and share your individual challenges in preparing for fieldwork with the aim to reinforce the understanding of potential ethical, security and other risks that may arise.
Over the duration of the course, you will receive one-on-one consultations with your instructor, which will offer an additional opportunity for feedback and guidance on your individual research project.
If you are interested in acquiring 4 ECTS for the course, you will be asked to prepare a risk assessment and mitigation plan for your own envisaged field research.
Some familiarity with research design and qualitative research methods would be beneficial, but by no means a requirement for participation and the successful completion of the course. Participants, who are preparing for field research but have no or only limited experience in doing fieldwork, will profit from this course the most. Participants will be expected to commit approx. 3 hours in preparation for each session, which includes readings and practical assignments.
You will engage in a variety of activities designed to deepen your understanding of the subject matter. While the cornerstone of your training experience will be daily live teaching sessions, the learning commitment will extend beyond these. This ensures that you engage deeply with the course material, participate actively, and complete assessments to solidify your learning.
If you have registered and paid for the course, you will be given access to our Learning Management System (LMS) approximately two weeks before the course start date. Here, you can view course materials such as pre-course readings. You will be expected to commit approximately 20 hours per week leading up the start date to familiarise yourself with the content and complete any pre-course tasks.
During the course week, you will need to dedicate approximately 1–3 hours per day to prepare and work on assignments.
Each course offers the opportunity to earn three ECTS credits. Should you wish to earn a fourth credit, you will need to complete a post-course assignment, which will involve approximately 25 hours of work.
This course description may be subject to subsequent adaptations (e.g. taking into account new developments in the field, participant demands, group size, etc.). Registered participants will be informed at the time of change.
By registering for this course, you confirm that you possess the knowledge required to follow it. The instructor will not teach these prerequisite items. If in doubt, please contact us before registering.