Exploring Connections Between Existing Theoretical Frames and Methods in the Study of Everyday Cohabitation: Notes from Two Research Projects

In a social and political context marked by increasingly polarized attitudes towards immigration and ethnic diversity, the paper uses the results of two research projects conducted ten years apart in Brussels and Montreal to reflect on methodological issues. The paper discusses two themes to show how to engage methodologically within a changing context, both theoretically and politically, and how various methodological choices might be used to fill some knowledge gaps. The first theme concerns the choice of research methods, and the type of knowledge they produce. The second theme addressed in this paper stresses the importance of paying more attention to the context where the research takes place, a process denoted here by the term situating. Two different interview methods are central to the discussion: in-depth interviews and 'on-the-spot' short interviews. The paper contrasts their use in relation with each project's research objectives.