Methods throughout the research process

This research, basically, takes qualitative approaches to research methodology and data collection. In this regard, Grounded Theory methods and approaches to mid-range theory building have influenced the research (Charmaz, 2001; Corbin and Strauss, 1990). Notably, the principle of concurrent data collection has been followed, in the sense that the ‘sample’ in this research was not closed from the beginning, nor was it dependent upon having first established a theoretical proposition. Moreover, the sampling was theoretical, meaning that sampling was not dependent on having random individuals (populations) represented, but was based on the aim of looking for patterns of actions and interactions among various types of social units (i.e. the analysed actors) (Birks and Mills, 2011).

Hence, after designing a first plan that established the main actors being sought and the type of information that was needed, I used snowball sampling that combined the principle of saturation or repetition to obtain the final sample (Birks and Mills, 2011).

In order to avoid biases introduced by informants and myself, I followed triangulation strategies (Della Porta and Keating, 2008). Thus, I contrasted the data obtained through different methods, namely, the analysis of documents, observation and the interviews. The diversification of informants, the different sites in which I obtained information (in origin and residence, and across different localities in each context) supported the idea of gaining a diversity of perspectives.

The main sources of information were primary documents, and interviews. The interviews were of different types. They covered informal conversations, exploratory interviews and structured interviews. Most of the interviews were semi-structured. The visits to the villages could conform to some definitions of focus groups or group interviews. That is, they were collective conversations that were actively encouraged by the researcher in order to yield data on the meanings that rested behind group assessments, group processes and normative understandings involved in co-development (Barbour, 2007; Bloor et al., 2001; Kamberelis and Dimitriadis, 2011).

The type of actors chosen to interview were pre-eminently stakeholders in co-development processes (migrant associations’ representatives, local communities in the localities of origin, governments decision-makers connected to migration and development policies at different levels, civil society representatives related to the processes in origin and residence). The sample also includes secondary actors that have supported or followed closely co-development processes between Catalonia and Senegal (Dakar and Kolda). This implied interviewing key informants such as scholars, representatives of international organisations, and also civil society members in Senegal that had a connection with the reality of international development sector. This was also a way of avoiding silencing discordant views on the processes under study. At this point I have not included a full list of interviewees because some informants wanted to remain anonymous.

I understood fieldwork, in this context, as time spent collecting data in a certain socio-political and geographical site (Scheyvens and McLennan, 2014, p. 4). During the overall research process I define three periods of fieldwork in Catalonia or Senegal. Although they are mentioned throughout the following parts, their main characteristics were: when the fieldwork was undertaken; the type of actors that were in the sample; the number of semi-structured interviews undertaken; the number of visits to villages or conversations to relevant actors. These are summarised in the table below (Table 3.8.).

Table 3.8. Fieldwork phases during the research, type of actors, and number of

Local councillors in government (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida) 6 Technicians in local government (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida) 7 Senegalese migrant associations representatives (Barcelona,

Partners of the associations’ projects (Dakar) 2 Regional government’s representatives

(Kolda)

5 Partners of the associations’ projects (Kolda) 6

Other Senegalese civil society (Kolda) 4

Senegalese migrant associations’ representatives (Kolda) 1 Catalan donor representative (Ziguinchor) ..

Other key informants (Kolda) 2

Visits to communities in 5 villages (focus groups) ..

Total interviews in second fieldwork 33

Third June 2014 Catalan donor 2

In Catalonia Local government representatives (Lleida, Girona, Calella, Mataró)

4 Oct. 2014 Senegalese migrant associations’ representatives 6

Apr. 2016 Other key informants 1 collected and examined migration and development legal frameworks (at National and Regional level); and International Development Master Plans alongside other relevant documents from local governments development agencies and the association of municipalities (Fons-Català). I also read and retrieved information from webpages of local governments, and regional and national institutions.

I undertook content analysis of relevant documents concerning the considered co-development processes. Apart from this, I also analysed: documentation related to local development plans in origin; webpages associated with the analysed actors;

definitions and reports of the different co-development projects; and documents

containing substantial dimensions of the relevant local governments’ comprehension of the relation between migration and development.

It is also worth saying that the collection of primary data in origin locations was usually based on direct contact with officers, as digitalisation and internet access is not as widespread in Senegal than in Spain.

Fieldwork and semi-structured interviews in Catalonia

Key actors and practices in Catalan local co-development policymaking were identified and mapped out. Some of the most relevant representatives were those interviewed in relation to a project on migrant incorporation in Catalan cities that was funded by the Catalan government and directed by my supervisor⁶⁸. This first aspect of fieldwork was centred on the dynamics of relationships between migrant associations and local governments within the four provincial capitals in Catalonia.

The interviews were undertaken from September 2009 until March 2010. Local political representatives, migrant representatives from Moroccan, Ecuadorian, Senegalese and Romanian associations, made up a sample of 56 interviews. I undertook 36 out of those 56 interviews, which involved travel to different cities in Catalonia. From these 36 interviews, 21 out are used in the dissertation. Among these 21 interviews, there were 13 people dealing with migration and development policymaking that worked as elected representatives or officers in local governments (from the cities of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida); six representatives from Senegalese associations in Barcelona, Girona and Lleida; and two representatives from other relevant civil society actors (migrant association in Barcelona and non-migrant charity in Girona).

After fieldwork in Senegal, a third round of fieldwork was done across Catalonia in June 2014, and April 2016. The aims were, first, to contact migrant associations and local government representatives from the considered co-development processes in order to contrast these with the results of fieldwork in Senegal. At this stage, I had incorporated two new localities within the units of analysis (Mataró and Calella, although the latter was not included in the final set of units of analysis) that were

68 Access to the webpage of the project: http://pagines.uab.cat/translocalcat/ [last accessed 31st October 2018]

systematically analysed, they were used to inform and complement the data obtained in previous phases. Second, migrant associations’ representatives and key technicians participating in co-development policy-making were interviewed. Despite these rounds of interviews, the biggest challenge regarding fieldwork in Catalonia was related to how long the research had taken until completion, as I felt that I should have been in touch with migrant participants and local governments more often to keep track of their situations and the evolution of projects since 2014 onwards.

In Catalonia, due to my activity as the representative of the platform of Catalan NGOs of peace, human rights and development in the period 2013-2017, I had occasion to speak with key informants regarding co-development, and the immigration and development (mostly) policy-sector (that is, representatives of civil society, and local and regional governments).

Fieldwork and semi-structured interviews in Senegal

During the month before my trip to Dakar⁶⁹ (I left Barcelona on the 16^th of July) I met in person people from Fons-Català, migrant representatives, and scholars in Barcelona. Moreover, I phoned municipalities and migrant associations’

representatives in other localities to verify which were the projects that still evidenced some kind of activity. As explained previously, I decided to take Kolda as a research region mainly because it was the area receiving the biggest amount of co-development funds and had the highest number of co-co-development projects in 2010.

In addition, it was important that because Kolda was the origin region of many Senegalese migrants residing in Catalonia.

When I arrived to Dakar I visited and interviewed officers working as expatriates in the Spanish development agency and in the Catalan development agency. I had maintained contacts by mail, but previous to my stay in Kolda I spent three days in Ziguinchor (in Casamance, near the sea) where the Fons-Català’s expatriate lived.

Initially, the first motivation for including Dakar was because of the importance of

69 I went to Senegal also in the context of a consultancy. For this I undertook 21 semi-structured interviews with National policymakers and civil society representatives; I undertook short journeys to Northern Senegal, and I was able to share the work ambiance of a Senegalese organisation not located in the common places where Western NGO ‘live’. These experiences were very useful ways to gain access and immerse myself into the Senegalese context.

one project located in the capital involving Barcelona’s municipality and crucial members of the Senegalese diaspora in Catalonia and elsewhere. However, I had also scheduled visiting two other projects around the Dakar region. Nevertheless, weather conditions and the final development of the fieldwork in Kolda, necessitated changing some of the projects originally considered. Indeed, it was the rainy season and floodings made access very difficult during the week when I had planned visiting other projects in Dakar.

During the fieldwork I undertook semi-structured interviews (see third fieldwork visits on the Table 9 above) in Dakar to representatives of the National government, Catalan and Spanish donors’ expatriates, one scholar and one key informant.

Regarding Kolda’s regional government, I arranged semi-structured interviews with the director and a technician of the Regional Agency for Development in Kolda (Agence Régionale de Développement de Kolda), and with the General Secretary of the Regional Council of Kolda (Conseil Régional de Kolda). I also had a meeting (not an interview) with the Kolda’s Governor. Finally, I undertook an interview with a public servant who was head of the ‘spatial planning’ unit.

On the subject of civil society, in Dakar I arranged two interviews with representatives related to the project and a diaspora organisation being developed there; in addition with an interview with the the head of an international organisation closely linked to co-development experiences. In Kolda, I undertook six interviews with members of civil society organisations and key informants, and five interviews with local NGO’s (Senegalese) that had been partners to co-development processes with Catalan localities and migrant associations.

During the whole visit to Senegal (overall it was two months) I recorded all semi-structured interviews. The visits to the villages were rather more challenging in terms of data collection: I recorded the audio of the collective meetings, but I also collected data obtained during informal conversations which I recorded in my journal while I was being shown around the village. Indeed, I kept a diary with my experiences, non-verbal information and main impressions after the interviews. Notes were taken by hand, and, later, every night, I wrote the comments, emerging questions, and

expanded on information in digital form. During the period of fieldwork in Kolda my partner was with me. After asking permission, he took some pictures of the visits.

Fieldwork in Senegal involved several challenges. Most of these were related to the fact that I had limited time in an unknown context. Also the specific conditions in which the majority of people lived and worked, and the scarcity of resources presented problems. I experienced the poverty every day in aspects such as infrastructure, in the continuous power cuts, in the difficulty to gain access to some places, and in the conditions in which officers had to work. At the same time, participants were extremely kind and welcoming.

In Kolda, access to some villages was particularly complicated because I needed 4x4 cars and also roads could be inaccessible. In Kolda, the support of the director of a local NGO, whom I contacted thanks to the expatriate of the Catalan Development Agency in Dakar, was key to helping me logistically, to plan and undertake the visits to the villages. The person put at my disposition a 4x4 car and a driver who knew where the villages were. I contacted translators thanks to this Senegalese person living in Kolda and from an anthropologist from Barcelona who was undertaking ethnography in Kolda.

In addition, even if I tried to tie up interviews beforehand with local elected officials and the association’s partners representatives, the visits were principally a matter of taking part in a village assembly. I prepared a guide with the main subjects I wanted to discuss but the final results varied. As every visit to a village had a strong factor of unexpectedness, my experience as a group facilitator and educator was really helpful.

During the visits (which I undertook with a local woman, who was working in development and who took on the role of translating between Fula and French) I subsequently transcribed the French parts after recording some of the dialogues.

Overall, translation had different implications. For instance, I lost opportunities for secondary conversations, chatting, and more informal conversations. In one case, I disregarded a whole visit because a Senegalese migrant residing in Catalonia took over the role of translator instead of the woman who was with me. As a result, I felt

that the translation was compromised and too biased towards this migrant perspective.

Given the time and the previous experience in the region that I had, I was happy with how the fieldwork went in Senegal. Many things happened and I worked very intensively. However, it would have been fantastic to have had more time, to have visited the villages more than once and to have been able to use participatory techniques to discuss the processes. In addition, I would have liked to contact further local government representatives in Kolda, interview a representative from the Regional Development Agence in Dakar and undertake the already planned visits to more projects in the Dakar region.

Non-participant observation of migrant activities

Apart from the (limited) participant observation that was entailed in fieldwork, since 2009 I had tried to compile and attend, where possible, activities organised by migrant associations with explicit objectives dealing with co-development, diaspora or the migrant and development nexus generally in Catalonia. Of particular importance to the purposes of the dissertation were the seminars organised by Senegalese associations. They allowed me to discover the subjects of interest, approaches used by the actors and also enabled me to map the main collective’s representatives. I kept hand written notes in my notebook and saved information (brochures, flyers…) regarding the activities in digital or paper formats.

In sum, the Table 3.9. below synthesises the array of methods used throughout the research. It also shows the periods of time when I most intensively worked on the different tasks that the research techniques involved.

Table 3.9. Summary of the main methods used throughout the research process

Methods When

Content analysis of primary sources: migration and development legal frameworks (at National and Regional level), Master Plans from development agencies and the association of municipalities (Fons-Català), webpages of national and Regional institutional organs.

Jan.-Jun.2010 Oct.-Nov.2012 Aug.2014; 2016-17 Descriptive statistics from budget and public calls in

Catalonia, Spanish ODA, Catalan and Spanish migration flows.

Fieldwork, visits to villages and semi-structured interviews in Senegal

Jul.2012-Sep.2012 Content analysis of primary sources: local development

plans in origin, webpages associated to the analysed actors, definitions and reports of the different co-development projects, documents containing substantial dimensions of the considered local governments comprehension of the relation between migration and development are compiled and examined. dimensions, I have built tables in Excel to systematise the analysis obtained from the data.

The analysis of interviews has been more challenging. First, there was the question of processing the data for the subsequent analysis. Almost all the registered interviews were completely transcribed. The raw audios are in five languages: Catalan, Spanish, French, Pulaar and Soninke. I could gain external help for the transcriptions of some of the audios, others I undertook myself. Only audio materials, or parts thereof, that were in Catalan, Spanish and French were transcribed. For some months, I tried to find people who could translate from Pulaar and Soninke to French or other languages. These are the local languages of the visited villages. My aim was to triangulate and avoid as much as possible any bias of the person who was the translator that had accompanied me on the visits. It would have been desirable to also

transcribe these parts but, finally, it was not possible because of the lack of resources and difficulty in identifying relevant transcribers.

Second, the analysis of qualitative interviewing and fieldwork notes relied on Grounded Theory methods, with the support of the Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) called Atlas.ti. I started establishing constant comparisons between incidents found in data through systematic coding procedures.

The approach to coding, which is essential in Grounded Theory methods, combined inductive and deductive approaches (Friese, 2012; Lewins and Silver, 2007; Saldaña, 2013). Thus, I combined the application of a code-system with the pursuit of emergent themes within the data by creating new codes (Charmaz, 2001, p. 677). The coding process was an iterative, cyclical one that I systematised throughout the whole analysis. It involved the repeated consideration of data. For instance, after the fieldwork in Senegal I re-analysed and recoded older interviews to see if I could find patterns and build up certain categories that had emerged during my stay in Kolda and Dakar. I have observed properties such as the number of quotations assigned to a certain code, and how this was distributed across different actors to make inferences.

Atlas.ti was also used for basic analytical procedures such as creating memos, searching the database and the coding schema, retrieving data according to different logic operations (for instance, asking the software to retrieve data coded with certain categories only across a particular type of actor). In order to ensure the traceability and accountability of the research and the inference process, I also tracked the different processes of category building and the retrieval of data.

Regarding the final output of the coded interviews, I have included a selection of quotations in the results’ chapters. They are used to provide evidence of the type of dynamics found and discussed in the analytical process. It is worth mentioning that many conversations that are displayed in the dissertation were held between people who were speaking a language that was not their mother tongue, and in some cases (when interviewees did not speak French) we were being translated. Thus, in these cases I opted to show a piece of the whole conversation. My dialogue with interviewees is also shown when I consider that having a broader context of the conversation is needed for accurate interpretation of the meaning.

3.4 Ethical considerations