Mixing methods in Social Network Analysis: Applications to the analysis of migrants' personal networks

This article shows the benefits of the use of mixed methods in social network analysis. Firstly, it reviews the use of mixed methods in this particular field, indentifying the different objectives and designs used for the combination of methods. Secondly, the potential of mixed methods is exemplified through an empirical research that analyzes the impact of participation in associations on personal networks and on the integration process of migrant population in Catalonia, Spain. Specifically, this study combines the analysis of personal networks structures with its meanings and dynamics, which allows to explain the different migrant's processes of settlement in the host society, and the role that participation in associations plays on them.