Mixed Methods to Empower Migrant Youth in Vulnerable Conditions: a place-based, migrant-centered international project

In this methodological paper, we will present a newly established international and interdisciplinary research project focusing on empowering young migrants in vulnerable conditions and supporting integration strategies within the EU in a unique and comprehensive mixed methods research design combining secondary analysis with qualitative empirical data. The triangulation of results from different sources and methods will help to provide a deeper insight into the integration processes from the perspectives of migrants, host nationals and experts.
In the framework of MIMY, financed by H2020 and comprising 12 consortium members from 11 disciplines and 9 European countries, we will focus on various challenges of integration strategies of young migrants in vulnerable conditions, considering different sectors from the perspective of different actors, at macro-, meso- and micro-levels. This will help to explain the successes and failures of integration over migrants’ life courses as well as the long-term consequences for migrant communities and the hosting society.
The research design of MIMY follows several steps: 1) desk research - literature review, content analysis, mapping exercises, 2) quantitative secondary data analysis, policy and discourse analysis, 3) qualitative empirical studies, and 4) synthesizing and synergizing all findings and drawing policy recommendations.
The present paper will outline how this project integrates qualitative and quantitative methods by using an innovative, multi-method approach (e.g. policy analyses, delphi study, focus groups, in-depth qualitative interviews, participatory action research) in order to explore vulnerability and resilience of young migrants in cross-national perspectives combining policy analysis with demographic, sociological, psychological, discursive, and ethnographic analysis.