Abstract
What are the methodological challenges that arise in conducting a longitudinal ethnographically informed study of settlement and well-being among a cohort of newly arrived youth with refugee backgrounds? Is it possible to achieve all of the objects of a study that uses both qualitative and quantitative methods, is informed by the disciplines of medical anthropology and social epidemiology, and must produce results that will inform policy and practice and contribute to a positive experience of settlement among participants in their first years in Australia? This was the aim of the Good Starts for Refugee Youth study (Gifford et al., 2009)—a project that grew out of an interdisciplinary mix of theory, method, and a practical need to better understand how to make life better for adolescents building a life in a new country. This chapter reflects on these methodological challenges as they arose from the Good Starts for Refugee Youth Study, which followed 120 youths over a 4-year period. Importantly, this chapter explores the extent to which a mixed method study can truly do justice to both meaning and measurement.