Mendeley
JSTOR
GPO
The World Bank
Gender, Race, Immigration
Latinos and the 2010 Census: The Foreign Born Are More Positive
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Research Findings
The Hispanic population in the United States grew from 35.3 million in the 2000 Census to 46.9 million (or 15.4% of the total population) in 2008. Of these, 62% are native born while 38% are foreign born. Historically, Hispanic participation in the census has been lower than other groups. In 2000, their return rate was 69%, compared to 79% for non-Hispanic households. This lead the Census Bureau to dedicate 20% of its ad budget on awareness campaigns aimed at Hispanics.
With the approach of the 2010 Census, the Pew Hispanic Center conducted a nationwide survey in March 2010 of 1,003 Latino adults on their awareness of and attitude toward the Census. The results were published in “Latinos and the 2010 Census: The Foreign Born Are More Positive.”
Its findings include:
- 79% of Spanish-speaking and 69% of bilingual Hispanics are positive and knowledgeable about the census, compared with 53% of English-speaking Hispanics.
- Foreign-born Hispanics (80%) are more likely to say that the census is good for the Hispanic community, compared with native-born Hispanics (57%).
- 69% of foreign-born Hispanics are likely to correctly say the census cannot be used to determine whether or not someone is in the country legally, versus only 57% of native-born Hispanics.
- 56% of foreign-born Hispanics reported that they have received pro-census messages, compared with 38% of native-born Hispanics.
- 91% of foreign-born Hispanics reported that they have sent in their census form or definitely will, compared with 78% of native-born Hispanics.
In addition, the researchers report, foreign-born Hispanics are also more likely to trust the Census Bureau to keep their personal information confidential.
Tags: California, Hispanic, Latino, race
Teaching Notes
Analysis assignments
Read the Pew Hispanic Center survey titled "Latinos and the 2010 Census: The Foreign Born Are More Positive."
- Summarize the survey in fewer than 40 words.
- Express the survey's key term(s) in language a lay audience can understand.
- Evaluate the survey's limitations. (For example: Do the results conflict with those of other reliable studies? Are there weaknesses in the data or research design?)
Read the issue-related New York Times article titled "U.S. Census Uses Telenovela to Reach Hispanics."
- If you were to rewrite the article based on knowledge of the survey, what key changes would you make?
Newswriting assignments
- Write a lead (or headline or nut graph) based on the survey.
- Spend 60 minutes exploring the issue by accessing sources of information other than the survey. Write a lead (or headline or nut graph) based on the survey but informed by the new information. Does the new information significantly change what one would write based on the survey alone?
- Interview two sources with a stake in or knowledge of the issue. Be prepared to provide them with a short summary of the survey in order to get their response to it. Write a 400-word article about the survey incorporating material from the interviews.
- Spend additional time exploring the issue and then write a 1,200-word background article, focusing on major aspects of the issue.
1 comment
Cancasa
I think this applies to any nationality as a whole. The native born being better integrated and educated are more prepared to question things and won’t accept things unless they have scrutinized all the important points whereas the foreign born are more willing to accept the system as it comes because they know there is far worse elsewhere and are desperate to be taken as a citizen.