Reflections on an Unexpected Research Journey
by Michiel E.
Embarking on my research trip to Tromsø in May of 2024, I anticipated engaging with the minority language community to gather insightful data for my thesis on minority language communities.
Unfortunately, the experience was less fruitful than I had hoped.
Both of my key contacts (gatekeepers) let me down by not being available during my trip, significantly hindering my research efforts. I was practically unable to make contact with anyone from within the community I wanted to study.
I had to come up with other ways to reach minority language speakers. I distributed flyers and posters, with a QR code linking to my survey, across various locations, including the university campus, a museum, a library, the Norwegian Independence Day parade, an aquarium, and a language school. I also shared the survey in two local Sámi Facebook groups and reached out to about 50 institutions in Tromsø asking them to distribute my survey to their staff and other contacts. Finally, I published an advertisement in a local newspaper with my QR code.
In the end I was able to conduct two semi-structured interviews and collected 26 survey responses.
This means I will have to supplement my research with other cases where researchers studied minority language communities and see if their data correlates with mine.
While my research trip was not as successful as I had hoped, it offered a valuable lesson in the unpredictability and challenges inherent in fieldwork.
If I had one piece of advice, it would be to clearly explain to your gatekeeper their role in your research, before you even consider traveling to far off destinations.