Morgan, A; Finniear, J; Raidén, A B and Murphy, M (2008) Developing trust among migrant workers: Methodological concerns of establishing trust among research participants. In: Dainty, A (ed.) Proceedings of 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK.
Abstract
The plight of migrant workers continues to generate widespread interest. Insights into migrant worker experiences within British work places continue to yield perspectives which reflect levels of vulnerability, even occasional abuse, unpleasant conditions, demanding employers, low wages and alleged sharp practice amongst 'agents'. Such accounts appear to present the British workplace to be beset with problems for the migrant worker. Our research aimed to explore the role, experiences and expectations of migrant workers in the construction industry in South Wales and the implications which this has for developing methodological approaches able to provide accurate perspectives from this group which are under represented in research. The aim of this paper is to contribute findings on the methodological challenges associated with gaining access to the workplace experiences of skilled and differently skilled migrant workers. Our work highlights a number of key issues which indicate that exploring the experiences of migrant workers using the idea of trust and considering the individuals relationship with the idea of community enables a more accurate, better informed perspective of working practices to be developed. As this suggests a cognitive centred approach we draw on the idea of a psychological contract to develop a conceptual framework against which these issues can be considered. We argue that utilising these key factors provides an opportunity to reconsider methodological approaches because without a genuinely held sense of trust between researcher and those researched a significant proportion of published reports and other research which aim to reflect the condition of migrant workers in the UK may be flawed in this respect. The implications this may offer for the organisation and management of research into the workplace dynamics of migrant workers are significant. To date little or no empirical insight captures the everyday work related experiences of this diverse employment group.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | boundaries of trust; determinants of trust; initial trust; methodology; voice |
| Index terms: | working practice, employment, wages, boundaries, conceptual framework, Wales, determinant, construction industry, agent, vulnerability, migrant worker, dynamics, psychological contract, methodology, initial trust |
| Subjects: | Geography, management, theoretical framing, research methods, industry analysis, systems engineering, environmental hazards, business economics, practitioner, risk assessment, property law, psychology |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Sustainability, Legal Issues, International Construction, Human Resources, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here