Matched Sampling Methodology Reconsidered: The Role of Trust in Studying Remittance Transfers Between Ghanaian Immigrants in the UK and their Relatives in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract Matched sampling methodology (MSM) has been used in remittance studies to understand remittance transfers. However, a detailed examination of the role of trust as a central element in producing reliable and valid research conclusions when a matched sample methodology is used has been missing in the literature. This paper fills this lacuna by arguing that cultivating trust in matched sampling research on remittance transfers, a sensitive subject matter, between African immigrants and their relatives presents a more nuanced narrative of remittance transfers. This approach shows that not only do African immigrants in the ‘Global North’ send remittances back home, but immigrants also receive remittances (reverse remittances) from their relatives on the continent. Using remittance research conducted among Ghanaian immigrants in the UK and their relatives in Ghana, this article identifies three ‘avenues of trust’—‘public avenues of trust’, ‘intermediate avenues of trust’, and ‘private avenues of trust’—to highlight the processes and challenges that researchers encounter while establishing contact with research participants and the role that trust plays in gathering accurate information. Focusing on the role of trust in MSM is in line with recent theoretical paradigms of remittance research that call for soliciting information from both origin and destination countries.