Migration's influence in shaping population dynamics in times of impending climate and population crises exposes its crucial role in upholding societal cohesion. As migration impacts virtually all aspects of life, it continues to require attention across scientific disciplines. This study delves into two distinctive substrates of Migration Studies: the "why" substrate, which deals with identifying the factors driving migration relying primarily on regression modeling, encompassing economic, demographic, geographic, cultural, political, and other variables; and the "how" substrate, which focuses on identifying migration flows and patterns, drawing from Network Science tools and visualization techniques to depict complex migration networks. Despite the growing percentage of Network Science studies in migration, the explanations of the identified network traits remain very scarce, highlighting the detachment between the two research substrates. Our study includes real-world network analyses of human migration across different geographical levels: city, country, and global. We examine inter-district migration in Vienna at the city level, review internal migration networks in Austria and Croatia at the country level, and analyze migration exchange between Croatia and the world at the global level. By comparing network structures, we demonstrate how distinct network traits impact regression modeling. This work not only uncovers migration network patterns in previously unexplored areas but also presents a comprehensive overview of recent research, highlighting gaps in each field and their interconnectedness. Our contribution offers suggestions for integrating both fields to enhance methodological rigor and support future research.

翻译：在气候与人口危机日益迫近的背景下，迁移对人口动态的塑造作用凸显了其在维系社会凝聚力中的关键地位。由于迁移几乎影响生活的所有方面，它持续受到各学科领域的关注。本研究深入探讨迁移研究的两个独特维度："原因"维度——主要通过回归模型识别驱动迁移的因素，涵盖经济、人口、地理、文化、政治等变量；以及"方式"维度——借助网络科学工具与可视化技术刻画复杂迁移网络，聚焦于迁移流动与模式的识别。尽管网络科学在迁移研究中的应用比例持续增长，但针对所识别网络特征的解释仍极为匮乏，这揭示了两大研究维度之间的割裂状态。本研究涵盖不同地理层级的人类迁移真实网络分析：城市级（维也纳区内迁移）、国家级（奥地利与克罗地亚内部迁移网络）、全球级（克罗地亚与世界各国的迁移交换）。通过比较网络结构，我们阐明了不同网络特征对回归建模的影响机制。本研究不仅揭示了此前未探索区域的迁移网络模式，更系统梳理了近期研究进展，指出各领域的知识空白及其内在关联性。我们提出的整合建议旨在增强方法论严谨性，为未来研究提供支撑。