Reflections on Methodological Approaches and Challenges in Researching Children Born of War

The field of research on Children Born of War (CBOW) has developed considerably in recent decades and has become a topic that has gained attention and visibility in peace and conflict studies, interdisciplinary gender studies and a wide range of disciplines from the history, social and educational sciences to medicine. As CBOW are part of a hidden population in conflict and post-conflict settings, conducting research is often characterised by multiple methodological and ethical challenges. Based on the different expertise of the two authors, the aim of the chapter is to present different methodological approaches to the research, which allow us to discuss advantages and disadvantages of the respective methods and to make recommendations for good research practices vis-à-vis CBOW based on case studies from historical, quantitative and qualitative research.

Published in a peer-reviewed anthology with De Gruyter: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111010649-003/html

Authors: Ingvill Constanze Ødegaard and Elke Kleinau