What We Might Have Missed: Lessons from Diverse Methodologies in the Study of Immigrant Families

Abstract

This article serves as an introduction to the current issue of Research in Human Development, which is devoted to exploring diverse methodological approaches to understanding human development within immigrant families. The authors present four original research articles spanning experimental, qualitative (focus groups and individual interview approaches), and mixed quantitative-qualitative study designs. Lessons learned from each methodological perspective are presented here by posing the question, “What might we have missed?” by relying solely on quantitative survey-based techniques. The authors end with acknowledgments of methodological limitations and thoughts for future research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the encouragement and guidance of Carola Suarez-Orozco, PhD, as this issue was inspired by a symposium presented with her at the Society for the Study of Human Development 2011 meeting in Providence, RI.