I had majored in Spanish and anthropology before the Ph.D. Studying the migration patterns of this Mexican village made use of all my talents. To expand upon the discoveries in that first encounter with Mexico, he collaborated with Mexican anthropologist Jorge Durand of the University of Guadalajara a few years later. This collaboration has lasted more than 12 years. Dr. Durand usually brings the qualitative approach of anthropology to their partnership, while Dr. Massey contributes the statistic formulations of demographics. Traditionally, immigration studies rely on surveys that use standardized questionnaires, which are then analyzed using statistics.
Anthropologists go to the communities and develop trust with their subjects.
Since migration is a sensitive issue, being directly connected to the lives of the people helps in reporting more accurately what's really going on. The resulting data is fuller, richer and more accurate. Through their studies, Drs. Border enforcement policies are not effective because the chances of being caught are low. Immigrants are not deterred by being caught and keep trying until they succeed.