The “Quantitative Subgroup” of Working Group 5 organized a panel in the 22nd IMISCOE Annual Conference “Decentering migration studies” (Paris – Aubervilliers & online, 1-4 July 2025) panel The title was: Untapped treasures? Utilizing Quantitative Data for Transnational Family Research
CHAIRS: David Schiefer (German Center for Integration and Migration Research) and Tatiana Eremenko (University of Salamanca)
DISCUSSANT: Tineke Fokkema (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI-KNAW))
In the past three decades, transnational family (TF) relations have been studied extensively, primarily using qualitative methods. These studies have provided rich in-depths descriptions of the dynamics and challenges experienced by family members separated across national borders. Studies using quantitative approaches can complement these insights by estimating prevalences of transnational family patterns within different societies and providing statistical estimates regarding the relationships between transnational family life and its various determinants (e.g. migration regimes) and consequences (e.g. the well-being of family members). This panel demonstrates the complementary contributions that quantitative studies can make to TF research but also addresses the challenges and limitations associated with this field of method. (1) The first presentation by Schiefer & al. provided an overall review of quantitative research on transnational families based on 118 studies using quantitative or mixed approaches. It is followed by four papers on TF in a diversity of contexts based on different quantitative data sources. Relations between adult children and their parents abroad are analyzed by (2) Bennett & al. and (3) Voicu: although both used surveys in “destination” countries, the former used general population surveys allowing to integrate the perspective of non-immigrants, while the second focused on one migrant group (Romanians) in several destinations. (4) Despić & al. presented the challenges of producing data on emigrants and their families in countries with recent emigration, while (5) the final contribution by Eremenko & al. addressed the specific conditions of transnational families of displaced persons from Syria.