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Journal of Refugee Studies Advance Access published online on September 10, 2007
Journal of Refugee Studies, doi:10.1093/jrs/fem004
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© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Meaning or Measurement? Researching the Social Contexts of Health and Settlement among Newly-Arrived Refugee Youth in Melbourne, Australia

Sandra M. Gifford1, Christine Bakopanos1, Ida Kaplan2 and Ignacio Correa-Velez1

1Refugee Health Research Centre, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
2Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, Melbourne, Australia

s.gifford{at}latrobe.edu.au

What are the most appropriate methodological approaches for researching the psychosocial determinants of health and wellbeing among young people from refugee backgrounds over the resettlement period? What kinds of research models can involve young people in meaningful reflections on their lives and futures while simultaneously yielding valid data to inform services and policy? This paper reports on the methods developed for a longitudinal study of health and wellbeing among young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia. The study involves 100 newly-arrived young people 12 to 18 years of age, and employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods implemented as a series of activities carried out by participants in personalized settlement journals. This paper highlights the need to think outside the box of traditional qualitative and/or quantitative approaches for social research into refugee youth health and illustrates how integrated approaches can produce information that is meaningful to policy makers, service providers and to the young people themselves.

Key Words: research methods • health and wellbeing • refugee adolescents • settlement

MS received January 1, 2006 ; revised MS received July 1, 2006
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