Keywords: Electoral polls in emerging/incomplete democracies

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) works on programs supporting equal participation in politics and elections for all citizens in a country. These programs are especially demanding in conflict environments where large-scale population movements can make the exercise of one’s franchise a challenge. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ukraine are a case in point, where IFES is supporting efforts to provide IDPs with the opportunities and mechanisms to exercise their rights for political participation. To support these efforts, IFES is implementing public opinion research surveys specifically focused on understanding the current residency and identification situations of IDPs, their views on electoral participation, and needs of this community in Ukraine. This paper will discuss some of the methodological challenges that IFES has addressed in carrying out these surveys of IDPs in Ukraine and share lessons learned from the experience.

This paper will discuss IFES’ ongoing research with IDPs in Ukraine which focuses on understanding the views and experiences of IDPs as they seek to establish roots in new communities throughout Ukraine after being uprooted from their former residences due to the conflict between Ukraine and separatists based in Eastern Ukraine. Specifically, the paper will discuss the methodological challenges faced in trying to implement a survey with a transient population and with minimal data sources to identify the demographic profile of the population. The paper will discuss the steps IFES has taken in collaboration with its local partners to address these sampling challenges, as well as to address fieldwork challenges in the conduct of the surveys. The paper will also discuss how limitations in the quality of population data impacts IFES reporting on findings from the survey. Finally, the paper will also discuss how data and findings from the surveys are being used by IFES programs of support in Ukraine and discuss some of the key findings from the research. The paper will provide an interesting discussion on the methodological challenges researchers are likely to face when conducting surveys with IDPs who have been impacted by conflict, and will provide insights into possible ways researchers can address these challenges.