Treffer: Reflexive Methods in Qualitative Fieldwork: The Role of Local Mediators in Multicultural Contexts

This presentation delves into fieldwork experience acquired in different sociocul-tural settings during the first semester of 2025, particularly in France (Lyon) and Hungary (Budapest), within the context of a comparative analysis of immigrant communities and their positionality in challenging media environments. Each case study offered insights on intergroup dynamics and migrant-led critical media dis-course, despite the obstacles encountered during the organization and execution of the fieldwork research plan. More specifically, the attendance and demographic rep-resentation were limited in Lyon, while Budapest was marked by open and inclusive dialogues among multiple participants. Because of the different nature of fieldwork conditions, it is significant to underline the unpredictable realities of research on mo-bility and integration.The original research design included focus groups to listen to shared experiences on media representations on migration and analyze their reactions to negative media portrayals from a qualitative research standpoint. Therefore, the fieldwork researcher emphasizes the need to perform flexible and creative methods to address these chal-lenges: the involvement of local mediators for recruitment purposes, the inclusion of visual prompts, and the introduction of small-group discussion groups. Once the new research design was adopted, it had a positive impact in Budapest, where collabora-tion with NGOs and community spaces helped build trust and intercultural dialogues. However, in Lyon, similar efforts did not yield the expected results, possibly due to limited engagement by local mediators during the recruitment process and fieldwork research plan execution time and conditions.Based on the acquired fieldwork experience, it can be argued that external fac-tors play a significant role in its implementation and results, especially when this in-volves the mobilization of individuals with diverse and multicultural backgrounds. Hospitality centers and associations can act as ‘bridges’ between research and on-the-ground realities, which can help the researcher understand their positionality and monitor potential tensions between institutional expectations and field-based practice. Methodological reflexivity eventually positions itself among the vital elements to manage processes and results during the fieldwork research organization and execu-tion. Lastly, it is worth noting that creative methods can be both alternatives and val-uable tools for ethical knowledge production and dissemination.