When conducting our research at FORM, especially in empirical, qualitative and quantitative surveys, we are confronted with a marginalized, potentially vulnerable target group that may suffer from physical and/or affective disorders due to experiences of war, persecution and flight. This can raise important issues such as obtaining informed consent, avoiding inappropriate invasions of privacy, establishing and maintaining a basis of trust between interviewer and interviewee, and ensuring participants' rights to confidentiality and anonymity. At FORM, we therefore strive to protect the physical, social and psychological well-being of study participants and to respect their rights, interests, sensitivities and privacy.

To maintain integrity in the conduct of our research, we follow the"Ethical Guidelines for Good Research Practice" published by the Oxford Refugee Studies Center. The guidelines provide a framework for responsible research on forced displacement and forced migration in all disciplines and regulate the conduct of researchers in the interpretation, analysis and storage of the data collected and the publication of the results.

In addition, every study conducted by FORM is submitted to WU Vienna's Ethics Advisory Board for review. Katharina Miko-Schefzig is a member of the advisory board, but will abstain from voting on the FORM studies and will not attend the meetings.

See also:

Miko-Schefzig, K., & Reiter, C. (2018). Participatory Organization Research in the Context of the Police: Ethical Research with Vulnerable Groups Using the Example of Detention Centers. Forum Qualitative Social Research Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(3). doi.org/10.17169/fqs-19.3.3142