What is in it for me? Challenges Associated with Recruiting Participants for a Study Focusing on Informal Workers: A Reflection from Fieldwork Conducted in Nigeria

Authors

Funmilayo Juliana Afolabi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.Follow

Abstract

This article presents the challenges a social scientist can encounter in studying workers in an informal sector. It is written from a doctoral researcher's perspective and draws on her fieldwork experience among informal automobile artisans in Osun State, Nigeria. The paper intends to share insights into navigating the challenges in conducting social inquiry among workers in the informal sector for fruitful outcomes. Particular attention is paid to some of the more common challenges researchers may encounter when conducting research in the informal sector. These challenges include project entry, participant recruitment, and retention. This article concludes with suggestions which researchers can use to study informal workers, especially in developing countries.

Keywords

access gaining, automobile artisans, informal sector, Nigeria

Author Bio(s)

Funmilayo Juliana Afolabi is a lecturer at Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University. She is currently undergoing her Ph.D. studies at Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. She had her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Sociology and Anthropology, at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Please direct correspondence to funmifemifolabi@gmail.com.

Acknowledgements

F.J. Afolabi received a grant (#DVC/AC/37A/AFO) from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) under Academic Staff training and Development for her Ph.D. studies at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. TETFUND was not involved in the study design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation or reporting of the data.

Publication Date

8-26-2021

Creative Commons License

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

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4895

Recommended APA Citation

Afolabi, F. J. (2021). What is in it for me? Challenges Associated with Recruiting Participants for a Study Focusing on Informal Workers: A Reflection from Fieldwork Conducted in Nigeria. The Qualitative Report, 26(8), 2668-2681. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4895

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0728-7257