QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative or “non-standard” research focuses on understanding social phenomena through the analysis of experiences, perceptions, and the meanings individuals attribute to their life contexts. In this way, the representations and meanings that actors attribute to a specific investigated reality become the objective through which the meanings of observed social phenomena are studied, making them recognisable and understandable in their manifestations. Qualitative research also fulfils a very important function by capturing the person's dependence on the social context, which interpenetrates with the individual perspective of differentiation from the same context. Non-standard methods and techniques are essential for gathering information not entirely reducible to a data matrix, thus offering a comprehensive and in-depth view of the phenomena studied. It is also situated and transformative concerning the investigative context. In particular, non-standard techniques, such as in-depth interviews or focus groups, are used as tools to enable researchers to deeply understand the motivations and value systems guiding individuals' actions, relating them to the social and cultural contexts in which they live. The goal of qualitative research is not to describe or predict phenomena linked to statistically significant numbers but to deeply explore a single aspect, case, or issue, collecting as much information as possible, including elements not analyzable with quantitative techniques: non-verbal language, proxemics, body movements, and pauses in speech. Finally, qualitative research requires empathetic interaction that grants a certain degree of freedom to the interviewee, who in many cases is an insider of the investigated phenomenon, leading to an in-depth, though less systematic, analysis of the biographical dimensions connected to the phenomenon.
WE-PROPOSE implements a qualitative methodological research approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with immigrant and potential returnee women currently residing in Italy and other semi-structured interviews with returnee women in Tunisia and Morocco. Additionally, a section of interviews will be dedicated to third-sector and institutional actors at the national and supranational levels who work with and support women and families requesting voluntary return. The aim is to understand the impact of the return process by reporting its multifaceted trajectories of “success” or “failure” through the voices and stories of the women, while simultaneously highlighting the importance of lived experiences combined with a richer understanding of the migratory phenomenon.