**3. Method**

The material in the following originates from a qualitative research project implemented in 2012. The research project was called The Challenges of Migration. The purpose was to explore the importance of ethnic relations in eldercare and was carried out through a collaboration between the university, the municipality's research department and care workers within the municipality's eldercare in a city in Sweden. The methodological approach was to conduct group interviews with eldercare staff, and the project resulted in some scientific articles [12–15]. Through an emphasis on race, it was possible to analyse the care workers' statements based on Essed's theory of everyday racism.

The research material develops from a completed research circle (recurrent group interviews) comprised of eight women working in eldercare services. A research circle is an established method of sharing understanding, built on mutual knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners. A research circle, study circle or the democratic dialogue, as it sometimes is called, is characterised by meetings where interpretations, viewpoints and opinions are exchanged. Perhaps the most critical aspect is that all those who participate can present their own experiences [16]. Through regular meetings and knowledge sharing, the research circle can be viewed as a democratisation of research. The sessions are a mutual exchange of knowledge between researchers and practitioners [12, 17, 18]. No one in the circle has more expertise on the various topics for discussion than anyone else. The researcher's role is to be a facilitator and an interested and attentive participant [19]. The research project has followed ethical research rules, and all participants have consented to the research. The contestants have received information, both in writing and verbally, on the research beforehand. The participants got informed about the research plan, the research aim, the methods used, the consequences and the risks of the study. They have also apprized who the principal investigator is, that participation is voluntary and that the subject has the right to cease participation. Personal data is restricted to the data subject they agreed to and are not used for other purposes. At the beginning of the group interviews, the respondents were told that tape recording techniques were to be used for analysis purposes and that they would be heard only by the researcher working on the study. The respondents have also been allowed to attend relevant sections of the recordings.

Throughout the research circle, discussions have generated insight, understanding and knowledge of how care staff members perceive their working conditions and situations that might constitute inequality. Over four months, the women who regularly participated in the research circle, three hours every third week, which made 18 hours in total, examined the importance of various aspects of inequality and vulnerability in their work. Seven of the eight women were migrants and had moved to Sweden as adults. The circle provided the women with opportunities to describe how they dealt with their work difficulties related to their origins. The purpose of the circle was to encourage care workers to reflect on and discuss how they managed specific situations in their daily work. Examples of issues addressed in these meetings included: What do you do when confronting vulnerability and inequality in the workplace? What do you do in difficult situations?
