Prepared by: Kais Al‐Momani Nour Dados Marion Maddox Amanda Wise C
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CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONSLike any project, this study has limitations. A small number of unanticipated obstacles further limited the scope of the study to some degree. Limitations and obstacles are discussed below. Our range of respondents may have been limited by the qualitative approach and mix of snow‐balling and web‐based methods to identify and recruit ‘politically active’ participants. However, we were not able to identify any resulting selection bias. Our geographical location in Sydney meant that face to face interviews were largely confined to Sydney and Melbourne, with other states covered by telephone. Language proved less of an obstacle than we anticipated. Most interviews were conducted in English, especially with ‘community influentials’ and the politically active, who tended to be fluent English speakers. However, the researchers who conducted most of the interviews are also fluent in Arabic, and, at the participants’ request, a small number of interviews, including one of the focus groups, was conducted in Arabic. At the same time as we were conducting the present study, several other projects were being undertaken by different research teams, also under the aegis of the National Action Plan and with significant overlaps in interviewee lists. Added to the large number of research projects conducted over recent years, these contributed to a feeling among many Australian Muslims of being over‐researched and pathologised. Past experience had produced significant scepticism as to whether the research would lead to any measurable change in areas such as entrenched disadvantage, discrimination, or racism, or any injection of on‐the‐ground funding and resources where they are needed. In any community, political participation tends to be most accessible to its best‐educated and best‐resourced members. Our team set out to ascertain which members of Muslim communities, in terms of occupation, age, generation since settlement, gender, education etc., have been most successful in achieving a political voice, and what obstacles might prevent others from doing likewise. We had some difficulty recruiting ‘everyday ’participants. In addition to the issues of ‘research fatigue’ and scepticism about the value of research, we found these potential participants reluctant to join focus groups without compensation (which our budget did not allow). These individuals said that they had given their time freely to researchers in the past but that the cost and inconvenience was such that they felt some form of compensation would be fair. Some also expressed fear of persecution for participating in a project about politics. This tended to come from older men who had left politically unstable or dangerous situations in their home countries. Some feared that their identities would be revealed to ‘the government’ if they expressed views that sat uncomfortably with Australian norms. The combination feeling that Muslim communities are ‘under the microscope’, and the political circumstances common in home countries influence how individuals perceive interactions with government officials, particularly researchers, around politically sensitive issues. At least in part for these reasons, offered by some potential participants approached, one of the planned focus groups failed to attract participants. A second focus group went ahead, but, after its completion participants declined to allow their responses to form part of the study. A final obstacle was recruiting participants of case study initiatives for the final section of the study. We identified the seven case studies for in‐depth analysis through interviews with co‐ordinators, program convenors and participants, as well as review of any evaluation material, where available. One program’s organisers initially agreed to participate, but subsequently withdrew consent. We were only able to interview past participants from four of the remaining six case studies. This was mainly because organising bodies did not keep records of participants or the program co‐ordinators did not have time to assist us to contact former participants. While we were able to interview program convenors and co‐ordinators of the four Australian initiatives, we were unfortunately unable, despite numerous attempts, to establish contact with program convenor of one of the two overseas initiatives. For the other, our descriptions and assessment rely on web materials, including participant evaluations, and some secondary sources. Directory: sites -> default -> files -> documents -> 01 2014 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> The south australian government gazette documents -> All public acts appearing in this gazette are to be considered official, and obeyed as such documents -> Union interparlementaire inter-parliamentary union 01 2014 -> Voices Shaping the 01 2014 -> Muslim Voices – Hopes and aspirations of Muslim Australians Centre for Muslim Minorities & Islam Policy Studies 01 2014 -> Editors: Kerry Download 16.24 Mb. Share with your friends:
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