Can a rigorous and systematic approach to qualitative data collection simultaneously also allow for open-mindedness, for (necessary) improvisation and even for serendipity during fieldwork? Is it possible to build on cross-cultural and interdisciplinary added value while maintaining a streamlined approach to methodology?
This chapter explores questions of ‘how to face’ collaborating with multiple partners and people, multi-sitedness, and issues of coherence and comparability in the implementation of qualitative data collection, with an emphasis on this specific stage of the research process. The chapter draws on the experience of implementing – that is, planning, doing and documenting – qualitative data collection in a large-scale, international research project: Aligning Migration Management and the Migration–Development Nexus (MIGNEX).
