The Migreval Database: Methodological Contributions of a Restricted Access Qualitative Database in the Sociology of Migration

The "Migreval" database aims to share data on the sociology of migration in a comparative Franco-German context. It was created in 2006 by a network of Franco-German researchers from the Universities of Strasbourg and Frankfurt am Main. It works on international migration using qualitative approaches, in particular life stories and the method of biographical policy évaluation. The network is the successor of a doctoral seminar between the two universities set up by Ursula Apitzsch, Daniel Bertaux, Catherine Delcroix and Lena Inowlocki. In 2014, it was supported by the Franco-German University (UFA/DFH) to carry out joint research on the biographical evaluation of language learning policies for migrants in Strasbourg and Frankfurt and, in 2021, an action research on the fields of possibilities for unaccompanied minors (MNA) in France and Germany.

The Migreval database allows in-depth analysis of over 250 biographical narratives of migrants and migration actors in two different national contexts over time, sometimes spanning several decades. It also facilitates collaboration between different researchers and the development of theoretical concepts across national and linguistic borders.

The presentation discusses how the creation of a qualitative database is in fact inseparable from the organisation of regular collaborative research seminars between database users, and shows with the help of concrete examples of our current projects how this tool promotes horizontal research practices.