Researching the Chechen diaspora in Europe

This article presents the reflection on the fieldwork conducted in 2014-15. The research analysed the link and interplay between Chechen demographic dynamics and Russo-Chechen conflict. The question was approached reflexively: the research population consisted only of Chechen refugees in Europe. The analysis targeted their opinion on the relevant topic.

This article justifies the choice of doing reflexive research. The main reasoning is related to inaccessibility of informants in the Chechen Republic. Furthermore, the article describes the pluses and minuses of this approach and presents the methodological choices made during the fieldwork and before. In sum, it intends to turn the gained experience into a transferable skill advising future researchers on the advantages and disadvantages of applied research methods and warns about the traps that they might face during the fieldwork.