Methods for the study of adaptation, inclusion and change of identities under conditions of mass migration: development and approbation

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present contributions to the development and testing of sociological tools to study processes of adaptation, inclusion and identities change during periods of large-scale migration triggered by armed conflict. The contribution also implies identifying in the pilot survey opportunities and limitations of these tools. Theories explaining adaptation, social inclusion and identities change were validated in previous works by Nataliia Panina, Yevhen Golovakha and Kateryna Ivaschenko. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a group resulting from the combat in Donbas were the target group of the pilot survey. The survey was implemented online and contained sets of questions on identity, social inclusion, adaptation (and problems related to it), social well-being and psychological distress. To verify whether the respondent belongs to the target group some factual and sociodemographic questions were also included. Data were collected using Lime survey web application. The majority of survey forms were submitted via Facebook or via website of Ukrainian Association of Displaced Persons. Factor validity was tested using confirmatory factor analysis based on Diagonally Weighted Least Squares method. For construct validation, the Index of Psychological Distress SCL-9-NR and the Integral Index of Social Well-Being (IISW-20) were used. As a result of testing, it was confirmed that measurement methodologies of social adaptation and identity change satisfy the requirements of factor and construct validity, and thus could be used to study specifics of adaptation and identification of migrants. The same conclusion was made regarding the methodology of passive inclusion. Scale of active inclusion has not shown evidence for construct validity which means that it should be substantially changed basing on the results of the pilot survey.