Access to Durable Solutions Among IDPs in Iraq is a mixed-method panel study that generalizes to a subset of the non-camp IDP population displaced by the Islamic State of Syrian and the Levant in Iraq (ISIL). This page provides general information on who this subset of the population is; when and where the study was fielded; the data collection process; topics covered in the questionnaires; and the qualitative component of the study.

A full discussion of the study, survey design, sampling, weighting, and codebooks and datafiles can be found in document, Access to Durable Solutions Among IDPs in Iraq: Quantitative Methodology Report. Data users are highly encouraged to consult this document before using the data. The questions that were asked in the quantitative survey in each round and that have been made publicly available in the downloadable datafile can be seen in the individual codebooks for each round.

• Iraqi IDP households participating in the study were displaced between January 2014 and December 2015.
• Households were from one of seven governates of origin: Anbar, Babylon, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din. They were displaced to one of four governorates of displacement: Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk, or Sulaymaniyah.
• All of the households in the study belong to the non-camp population.
• 3,852 households were sampled and participated in Round 1. Of them, 3,463 (89%) have remained in the study through Round 5.
• Over time and as people moved, the study identified three groups within the study population, allowing researchers to explore how geographic movement relates to attainment of durable solutions. Notably, these three groups, referred to as “household status”, is a study-defined variable and not one that is internationally recognized.
  • IDPs: households displaced to one district in Round 1 and who remained in the same location throughout displacement.
  • Movers: households displaced to one district in Round 1 but who moved to another district subsequently.
  • Returnees: households displaced in Round 1 but who returned to their districts of origin in subsequent rounds.

• Five rounds of data have been collected since 2016, and a sixth round is underway in 2021.
• In Round 1, the study was fielded only in the four governorates to which IDPs were initially displaced: Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah. As IDPs returned to their governorates of origin or relocated elsewhere in Iraq, interviewers carried out interviews with those families in 14 of Iraq’s 18 governorates.

• IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), a system used to monitor population movements, provided Iraqi IDP population estimates to help determine the sample. The four governorates to which IDPs were displaced (Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah) were home to 34% (180,000 households) of the 522,000 IDP households in Iraq in December 2015 when the sample was constructed. When initially drawn the entire sample, stratified according to both governorate of origin and governorate of displacement, generalized to these 180,000 IDP households.
• After Round 1, IDP households began to move. For analysis purposes, these households were classified as IDPs, Movers, or Returnees as defined above. Weighted quantitative findings among those whose household status is “IDP” generalize to this 34% of the Iraqi IDP population displaced by ISIL. For further information on weighting, please consult the document, Access to Durable Solutions Among IDPs in Iraq: Quantitative Methodology Report.

• Surveys and qualitative interviews were conducted exclusively face-to-face in Round 1 using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). In subsequent rounds, face-to-face interviews continued, but operational considerations mandated a number of interviews needed to be conducted on the phone using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI).
• IOM-Iraq’s field researchers conducted the interviews. Prior to each round of data collection, teams participated in extensive trainings to review best practices and to provide feedback on the questionnaire. Whenever possible, the same interviewer recontacted the same households in each round of data.
• From the beginning of the study until mid-2018, between rounds and just prior to data collection, IOM Iraq’s field researchers used the TextIt System, a text messaging platform, to maintain monthly contact with IDP families participating in the study and to track their movement. A monthly mass text was sent to households to verify their then-current location. When households indicated they had moved, field researchers called to verify the new location and to update the database. From Round 4 to Round 5, the field researchers contacted participants every two months via phone calls to identify their locations and movements. After Round 5, the field teams contacted the families once in August 2020 to update their locations. Because Round 6 was done exclusivity over the phone, teams updated the families’ locations in parallel with data collection.

• Each round included questions that attempted to turn into measurable indicators each of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s eight criteria on access to durable solutions: safety and security, standard of living, livelihood and employment, housing land and property, personal documentation, family separation and reunification, participation in public affairs, and access to justice.
• Most rounds additionally included questions related to migration history, stability, social capital, and future intentions. Finally, some rounds included modules on special topics such as the experiences of female-headed households, mental and physical health, agriculture, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Round 1 consisted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 80 households (20 from each governorate).
• For Rounds 2-5, 100 qualitative interviews were conducted as a panel study; the same 100 households interviewed were made up of 20 households from each of the four governorates of displacement, and an additional 20 who had returned as of Round 2. Field researchers were trained in purposive sampling methods and discussed and selected the households based on criteria they decided were most relevant to the study.
• Households were asked about how their lives compare to their lives before displacement, the challenges they face on account of their displacement, and the ways they are finding to rebuild their lives, as well as other topics related to the IASC 8 criteria (see above).
• Additional qualitative interviews were done in Rounds 1-4 with host communities (20 from each governorate of displacement in Rounds 1-3, and 10 in Round 4), and with 40 Iraqis working in aid and charity organizations (Round 4) and with 40 Iraqis working in education (Round 5).