In October 2021, Morten Bøås (NUPI) published the policy brief “Field Work and Violent Extremism” with the Atlantic Initiative (NGO), addressing some of the most serious challenges associated with conducting field work in environments characterized by violent extremism. There is no single recipe for safe, ethical and successful field work that can prepare researchers for all situations that could occur when conducting field research in areas affected by violent extremist ideas. Based on Bøås’ own experiences from the Sahel, this policy brief deals with issues concerning security measures during field work – including the informants’ anonymity, the position of the researcher, and how one can design and generate field research methods that provide safety for researchers as well as for their interlocutors, without compromising data quality and ethical standards.
You can read the full policy brief here.
