Studies of migrant transnationalism are dominated by qualitative case studies. To take the field further, there is a need for more quantitative studies and for connecting quantitative and qualitative studies through a reiterative feedback loop. In order to contribute to this, we take two refined and original quantitative studies, one by Snel et al. and one by Portes et al., as a vantage point, commenting on the authors’ organization of analytical categories and their operationalization of key concepts, in light of our own, qualitative data. These data come from a research project, EUMARGINS, where we analyze processes of inclusion and exclusion of young adult immigrants and descendants in seven European countries, using participant observation and life-story interviews in combination with statistical data. We conclude that the process whereby young migrants identify themselves in terms of ethnicity and belonging is context-specific, multidimensional, and hard to study quantitatively. 1. Introduction The exact meaning of “migrant transnationalism” has agitated otherwise calm academics for roughly two decades. The challenges inherent in defining and operationalizing it may partly explain the relative paucity of efforts to quantitatively map the phenomenon, meaning that we still know relatively little about the scope and frequency of migrant transnationalism today. This paper is based on the premise that we need more quantitative studies to break this vicious circle. We contextualize our own qualitative findings by drawing on quantitative studies, as a vantage point for cross-camp dialogue and for reflecting on how our own data from the qualitative EUMARGINS research project can be of use to future quantitative research. A conclusion offers a few generalizations on the two methodological frameworks in the context of studies of migrant transnationalism. It is fair to say that the whole transnational paradigm shift across the multidisciplinary field of migration studies emerged on a platform of qualitative research, being catalyzed by certain key anthropological works in the early 1990s by Georges, Grasmuck and Pessar, Rouse, Glick Schiller, Basch, Szanton, and Kearney [1]. Later, mainstream sociology joined the trend [2], and forceful contributions were made by both qualitatively and quantitatively oriented scholars such as Portes, Guarnizo, Itzigsohn, Glick Schiller, Wimmer, Levitt, and Faist [3]. Early studies tended to see transnational migration everywhere and frame findings in a celebratory way and suffered from conceptual weaknesses common among
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