Abstract:
Matched sampling methodology (MSM) has been used in remittance
studies to understand remittance transfers. However, a detailed examination
of the role of trust as a central element in producing reliable
and valid research conclusions when a matched sample methodology is
used has been missing in the literature. This paper fills this lacuna by
arguing that cultivating trust in matched sampling research on remittance
transfers, a sensitive subject matter, between African immigrants
and their relatives presents a more nuanced narrative of remittance transfers.
This approach shows that not only do African immigrants in the
‘Global North’ send remittances back home, but immigrants also receive
remittances (reverse remittances) from their relatives on the continent.
Using remittance research conducted among Ghanaian immigrants in the
UK and their relatives in Ghana, this article identifies three ‘avenues
of trust’—‘public avenues of trust’, ‘intermediate avenues of trust’, and
‘private avenues of trust’—to highlight the processes and challenges that
researchers encounter while establishing contact with research participants
and the role that trust plays in gathering accurate information.
Focusing on the role of trust in MSM is in line with recent theoretical
paradigms of remittance research that call for soliciting information from
both origin and destination countries.
