Research with institutionalized populations: Methodological and ethical dilemmas

Abstract

While there is a strong body of literature documenting various challenges qualitative researchers face with vulnerable populations in the Global North, there is a dearth of research on the ethical dilemmas arising with institutionalized populations in post-authoritarian and post-socialist contexts in the Global South, or Global East. This article sheds light on the methodological challenges and ethical dilemmas emerging in qualitative research with orphanage youth and incarcerated women in Ukraine. The following dilemmas are discussed: methodological relevance, methodological credibility and reliability, methodological flexibility, constrained freedom and limited privacy, perceived researcher identity as a burden, and complicated reciprocity. These reflections on the dilemmas and lessons learned are informed by the author's qualitative research conducted in Ukraine between 2010 and 2019. They serve to guide budding scholars and graduate students who often times feel unprepared in their graduate studies to conduct emotionally intense research with vulnerable populations.