Young migrants on the move: Ethics and methods of conducting qualitative research ‘in the moment’

Qualitative forms of enquiry offer valuable opportunities to generate rich data that deepens our understandings of contemporary social issues, such as migration. Qualitative methods are often championed for enabling the engagement of so-called hard-to-reach or vulnerable groups in research and through using techniques that support the building of research relationships and rapport with participants. However, possibilities for building rapport can be problematic in contexts of flux and precarity. In this paper, we reflect on (and problematise) our decision-making in relation to the ethics and methods of a qualitative study exploring the livelihoods of young African migrants in Ghana. Our reflections highlight the challenges of investigating youth mobilities, including how frequent movements influence the generation of in-depth data with young people occupying precarious circumstances. Capturing data ‘in the moment’ challenged us to rethink our approaches, offering alternative ways to conduct a qualitative enquiry with young people frequently on the move.