  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.
