Lifestories (по-русски)
In autumn 2008 the research team will begin recording the life stories of participant volunteers. These stories will document the past, the present and the future dreams of Russian speakers whose lives have brought them to Ireland.
The aims of the project
The process of story collection
Participant anonymity and confidentiality
Publishing the life stories
Contact information
The aims of the project are:
- to create an archive of migration stories
- to tell the story of migration to Ireland at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries
- to present the voices of the participants which might not otherwise be heard in the media and in academic discourse
- to study the challenges and opportunities faced by people who have moved to Ireland
- to consider the challenges and opportunities which inward migration poses for Ireland
- to view Ireland through the eyes of its new residents
It is anticipated that, through the process of chronicling their lives, participants will learn about themselves; the privileged access they give us to their lives will provide a prompt for us to consider the realities of our individual and collective life stories and situations.
The process of story collection
Interviews will be conducted in English or Russian, depending on each participant’s preference. The interviews will be recorded, transcribed and translated into English/Russian. The transcript of interviews will be sent to participants within two months of the interview. Participants can alter the transcript at this point.
There is a possibility that some of the questions in the interviews may make participants feel uncomfortable. We will be asking them about personal things and they may feel embarrassed and/or concerned about confidentiality when talking about the journeys which brought them to Ireland. The interviewer will not continue with a line of questioning if a participant indicates any discomfort.
Participant confidentiality
The names of participants will be changed to protect participants' identities; indeed, all potentially identifying information will be removed from all stories. Nothing will be published without the permission of participants.
Identifying information (lists of persons, field notes, interview material, recordings) will not be stored electronically. Research material which is stored electronically will contain a reference number linking it to physically stored information which will be kept under lock and key.
Publishing the life stories
Life stories (or segments of life stories) will be made public in the form of data archives, web sites, journal articles, or books only with the permission of participants.
Contact information
If you would like to contribute to this project, please contact
Sarah Smyth,
Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2
ssmyth@tcd.ie
Link to Consent Form [English] (PDF, 31KB)
Link to Consent Form [Russian] (PDF, 112KB)