Abstract

Although international migration has received significant attention in the literature, this is usually in respect of development and remittances. Methodological issues on the subject are very scarce more so relative to the interface of kinship and international return migration. Yet methodological issues remain crucial to useful understanding of the processes and dynamics of the problem. This article thus fills the gap by concentrating on methodological lacuna in the literature on this all important subject. The paper relied on the authors’ methodological experiences while undertaking research among international returnees and their kin in Nigeria and concludes that it is impossible to successfully research international migration, especially return, within kinship frameworks, for sustainable development in developing nations without deploying original, innovative nuanced and context specific research methodology like the one adopted in this article.

Key words: Research, methodology, return migration, kinship networks, Nigeria.