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Mixed‐method social network analysis for multi‐sited transnational migration research
Author(s) -
Mazzucato Valentina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
global networks
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.685
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1471-0374
pISSN - 1470-2266
DOI - 10.1111/glob.12305
Subject(s) - contextualization , social network analysis , politics , sociology , qualitative property , data collection , social network (sociolinguistics) , data science , political science , social science , computer science , social media , world wide web , social capital , machine learning , law , interpretation (philosophy) , programming language
Following the recent call to combine social network analysis (SNA) approaches in the study of migrant networks and their contextualization within transnational economic, social, legal and political frameworks, in this article, I review recent studies that combine mixed‐methods SNA with observational methods in the study of transnational social networks. Such studies have enabled the collection of rich and contextualized data across multiple sites, helping to address the conundrum facing transnational migration researchers: how to combine breadth and depth in transnational data collection. Mixed‐method SNA combines quantitative and qualitative SNA methods together with in‐depth repeated interviews and observations. The article shows how mixed‐method SNA helps to address three particular challenges of doing transnational migration research: designing a transnational research project; studying transnational relationships as ‘worked at'; and capturing the dynamic and changing nature of transnational relationships as embedded within multiple environments (social, legal, economic and political) in which they take place.