A Personal Network Approach in Mixed-Methods Design to Investigate Transnational Social Protection

Abstract Research on the cross-border practices that underpin the spatial dimension of personal relationships involves also the study of protective resources (e.g. care, information exchange and financial assistance). However, studies that examine such transnational practices within migrants’ personal networks face methodological challenges at both the data collection level and the data analysis level. For a comprehensive analysis of migrants’ life worlds, new methodological approaches to transnational practices and resource flows within personal networks are essential. Thus, this article aims to illustrate ways to study social protection by empirically capturing such practices. In addition to demonstrating that the combined use of personal network analysis and qualitative interviews is a fruitful approach, this study used a mixed-methods design contributing to capture the interrelationship between transnational social protection patterns and migrants’ strategies, as well as their meanings.