How to Research Inaccessible and Under-Studied Areas: The Case of Hawija, Iraq

Abstract

What are the alternative methods the scholars have utilized amid field inaccessibility due to conflict and post-conflict contexts? What methodological and ethical challenges researchers should be cognizant of when adopting a distant approach? What methods can be adopted to investigate regulatory systems in Hawija from afar based on its local context? This study explored distant methods and proposed a methodology for my originally planned field research on Hawija that was voted down due to security concerns. I reviewed the methods adopted by the scholars encountering empirical infeasibility in the Middle East and North Africa. By categorizing their choices of methods into three groups, this thesis analyzed their associated methodological and ethical challenges. In addition, to develop a practical methodology for conducting the planned research from afar, I resorted to local NGO staff and researchers possessing research experience in Hawija to inspect local context and logistical challenges. By proposing a combined approach of “glocal” collaboration and online interview, this work made methodological contributions to study conflict and post-conflict contexts, and more specifically, to investigate legal pluralism in areas of limited statehood.