further research, I would concentrate more on the transfer of emotional support and intimacy through tech-mediated communication because preliminary thematic analysis demonstrated its importance in maintaining families across borders.

Conclusion

In this report, I introduced a methodological reflection and preliminary analysis of my research project conducted on how students, who moved to the UK to study at LSE, keep contact with their families and how these contacting habits help sustain ‘familyhood’. I argued that the following methodological points of my research were appropriate: application of interviewing and sampling for range, the help of insider position in the recruitment process, and using an open-coding in data organization. In addition, I showed how I constructed the interview guide, and how the interviews went – what were the strength and limitations, and how I improve them. Based on preliminary analysis I highlighted some emerging topics, including generational differences, situational impacts, emotional support and encouragement that can be areas of interest in further research.

Using a qualitative research method for answering the research question is suitable because it allows me to understand the underlying forces of similarities and differences of family contacting habits, like situational and generational effects. Moreover, it enables me to unveil the emotional dimension of family contacts and to see how family communication, as a transmitter of emotional support and encouragement, helps to maintain ‘familyhood’.

I believe in future research it would be particularly interesting to study the above transnational family communication from the aspect of the parents who stay at the country of origin because they perceive the very same situation from an entirely different angle than students.