Collecting International Merchant Seafarer Oral Histories: Experiences and Reflections

Authors

Tom Matyók, University of North CarolinaFollow

Abstract

Investigating highly mobile labor populations presents researchers with unique challenges and opportunities. In this paper, I share my experiences and reflections in collecting international merchant seafarers' oral histories and propose to move the dialogue forward regarding the use of hybrid qualitative research practices. Seafarers are constantly moving, at sea and in port, and traditional research methodologies are inadequate in determining the nature of modern-day seafaring. I suggest how qualitative research methods must be flexible enough to accommodate researchers' needs in a chaotic global milieu. Investigators researching highly mobile labor populations, as well as mobile immigrant and refugee communities, can gain insights into the challenges and methods available for meeting those challenges.

Keywords

Migrant Labor, Oral Histories, Interviewing, Qualitative Research Methods, and Globalization

Publication Date

7-4-2011

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1118

Recommended APA Citation

Matyók, T. (2011). Collecting International Merchant Seafarer Oral Histories: Experiences and Reflections. The Qualitative Report, 16(4), 1001-1017. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1118