Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Qualitative Research

While triangulation of mixed methods data has become commonplace in sociological research, triangulation within qualitative research has not been equally utilized, mainly due to criticism that triangulation is used as a validation strategy. This paper contributes to discussions on qualitative within-method triangulation in order to gain breadth and depth of a phenomenon under study, rather than to establish objective truth by data convergence. To achieve this, it presents the methodological rationale for triangulating results of two different types of analyses done on the same data, with examples drawn from the narrative research of women’s circular labour migration. The aim of the research was to understand the elements of migrants’ experiences that facilitate and perpetuate international circular migration cycles. The data was collected by conducting 25 narrative interviews with circular migrant women from Croatia who are employed in the sectors of care, agriculture and tourism in Italy, Austria, and Germany. Early data collection indicated that the formulated research aim must encompass the examination of migration cycles from two angles; by examining the migrants’ habitual continuation of cycles but additionally by examining the critical incidents of their circularity being involuntarily interrupted and then continued at a later time. While the former was done by cross-case coding of 25 narrative interviews, the latter demanded an in-depth case analysis of narratives of migrants who experienced disruptions. Three participants were chosen based on the criteria of employment in each sector, due to differences in work arrangements, and the total duration of migration. Their labour migration pathways were analysed as vignettes which focused on the chronology, motivations, and actors involved in the disruption of circular migration cycles. Triangulating the results produced a layered understanding of continuity of circular labour migrations by highlighting the interplay of its economic and gender dimensions within the familial and regional contexts.