Doing Research on Turkish-Armenian Relations in Turkey, Armenia, and the Armenian Diaspora: The Challenges and Opportunities of Turkish Researchers in the Field

Abstract

Doing field research in contexts involving intergroup conflict entails practical, ethical and methodological challenges. Therefore, it is crucial for researchers to be prepared for those challenges before going to the field. We believe reflecting on potential challenges by taking one’s positions (e.g., being an insider and outsider in different contexts) in intergroup conflict into account beforehand may be a good start for doing successful field research. As new challenges may occur while in the field, reflecting on one’s own positions both during and after the fieldwork is also necessary. While there is literature on these challenges in different social science fields, little is known about opportunities that may occur in fieldwork. In this chapter, we, as Turkish researchers, aim to discuss challenges as well as opportunities that occurred in our fieldwork on Turkish-Armenian relations in Turkey, Armenia, and in the U.S. The challenges include (a) building trusting relationships between researchers and participants, (b) security of researchers and participants, and (c) censorship against researchers and self-censorship. The opportunities include (a) building trusting relationships with local contacts, (b) noticing one’s own prejudices and improving intergroup relations, and (c) reevaluating theoretical and methodological approaches. We hope the discussions throughout this chapter will be beneficial for researchers and students who are planning to do fieldwork in conflict contexts as well as contribute to new debates on opportunities of fieldwork, especially in intergroup conflict contexts.