Combining qualitative and quantitative methods to study perceptions of immigrant youth

This article illustrates the potential of combining qualitative and quantitative methods to increase understanding of social and cultural phenomena. An example of a multimethod study demonstrates the advantages of this combination. The study investigated perceptions of young people who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. The first stage of the study began as a quantitative study of role reversal in immigration and developed into a qualitative study investigating the subjective experiences involved in this phenomenon. An "alternatingmethod" model, in which a research effort alternates between qualitative and quantitative components, each stage building on the previous one, is proposed.