Research Paper on Integration of Immigrants in the United States

Introduction

In recent years, expectations and popular attitudes have changed in the United States regarding social change problems and social change. One of the recent social issues that have been an interest in research and has brought forth a heated debate is the issue of integration of immigrants in the American society. Notably, studies have shown that the number of foreign-born Americans account to up to 13% of the American population. Despite this fact, there has been a lingering prejudice, and popular fear of immigrants that has been informed by political agendas despite the positive contribution immigrants have on the American economy (Abramitzky & Boustan, 2017). The topic of immigration is an area of interest in this study as it has been examined and synthesized using various social science approaches but still remains to be an area of contention in American society.

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In developing research in social sciences, evaluation of authority and source credibility, reliability, and usefulness is a crucial step. This evaluation allows for informed research with the alternative database from different points of view, identification of possible biases, the distinction between fiction, opinion, and facts, distinguish relevant content from that which is irrelevant and draw well informed and well-thought conclusions. Identification of credible sources, therefore, involves critical sources evaluation ("Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Evaluating Sources," n.d.). This evaluation involves an inquiry about the author, identifying the date of publication in order to establish the most recent and updated database, an inquiry about revisions and editions, the title and the publisher of the source ("Guides: What are credible sources?: Peer-reviewed journals," 2019). To identify a credible source, several questions need to be answered. First, the source must be in-depth, with an abstract, a reference list and documented data. Secondly, does the research have a scholarly audience, such as professionals in a specific field? Are the authors identifiable in the discipline as credible researchers? Is the source a reputable one? Is it updated and current to the topic? And, are there supporting documentation such as charts, graphs, and others? ("Is My Source Credible? - UMUC Library," n.d.). If a source meets these conditions, then it qualifies to be credible research to be used in social science research.

In social sciences research, the scientific method used is empirical research. This research allows for a systematic, comprehensive and definite subject matter with the aim of discovering the truth ("Library Guides: Empirical Research in the Social Sciences and Education: What is Empirical Research?," 2018). This method allows careful observation, rigorous skepticism, formulating hypothesis, experimentation and measurement based on the hypothesis, and refinement based on the experimentation findings. These principles distinguish empirical research from theoretical and personal arguments within behavioral and social sciences (Firebaugh, 2010). The following chart gives a summary of five articles addressing the incorporation of immigrants in the United States from different disciplines in social science.

Article 1

Reference in APA format. Abramitzky, R., & Boustan, L. (2017). Immigration in American Economic History. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(4), 1311-1345. doi:10.1257/jel.20151189

Disciplinary perspective: Economics

The credibility of the source: The article is recent and published in a renowned government organization that publishes credible sources.

Hypotheses/Research questions:

• Were immigrants positively or negatively selected from their sending countries?
• How did immigrants assimilate into the American society and economy?
• What effects does immigration have on the economy?

Description of subjects: The research focused on human subjects in two main eras of immigration history.

• The Age of Mass Migration from Europe (1850-1920)
• The age of renewed mass migration from Latin America and Asia.

Study design description: The study design used was descriptive design.

Main findings:

• The migrant selection was decidedly mixed in the past; for example, negative migrant selection existed in Europe.
• There was, and there still is a slow economic convergence between immigrants and natives in America in terms of earnings.
• Immigrants have a positive impact on the American economy.

Study Limitations: The study is limited in terms of historical eras covered, with African immigrants, who make up a huge percentage of American immigrants not investigated in the study.

Article 2

Reference in APA format. LIGHT, M. T., & MILLER, T. (2018). DOES UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRATION INCREASE VIOLENT CRIME?*. Criminology, 56(2), 370-401. doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12175

Disciplinary perspective: Criminology

The credibility of the source: The journal is peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by the US National Library of Medicine.

Hypotheses/Research questions: Do undocumented immigrants increase violent in the United States?

Description of subjects: Undocumented/illegal immigrants data from FBI Uniform Crime Reports, The Centre for Migration Studies, the U.S. Census, the National Prisoner Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Study design description: Exploratory design.

Main findings: Undocumented immigrants do not increase violence.

Study Limitations: The study focuses on the relationship between crimes and undocumented immigrants to make a generalization that the relationship is negative. However, it does not put into account the few cases of crime from undocumented immigrants.

Article 3

Reference in APA format. Lee, C. (2009). Sociological Theories of Immigration: Pathways to Integration for U.S. Immigrants. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19(6), 730-744. doi:10.1080/10911350902910906

Disciplinary perspective: Sociology

The credibility of the source: Peer-reviewed article and accepted for publication in behavioral and social sciences.

Hypotheses/Research questions: Examination of the process by which immigrants are assimilated and incorporated in the host society through different theoretical frameworks.

Description of subjects: Study design description. Exploratory research.

Main findings: Two major factors influence integration of immigrants into American societies; group adaptations and characteristic and adaptations of arriving immigrants and the context of the host society.

Study Limitations: The study focused on the incorporation of immigrants in American society but does not assess the impact immigrants have in society.

Article 4

Reference in APA format. Kirmayer, L. J., Narasiah, L., Munoz, M., Rashid, M., Ryder, A. G., & Guzder, J. (2010). Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: the general approach in primary care. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), E959-E967. doi:10.1503/cmaj.090292

Disciplinary perspective: Psychology

The credibility of the source: Peer-reviewed article.

Hypotheses/Research questions:

• How does migration affect mental health?
• How does culture affect health and illness?
• Which clinical strategies are effective in treating common mental health problems among migrants?

Description of subjects: Publications on recent data on immigrants and refugees mental health.

Study design description: Explorative design.

Main findings:

• Mental health problems are influenced by the nature of the migration experience.
• Mental problems include difficulties in communication, different in family structure, acceptance and effects of cultural shaping.

Study Limitations: The study was restricted to publications rather than particular case studies. Biases from previous publications could have as well informed the findings in the article.

Article 5

Reference in APA format. Malhotra, N., & Newman, B. (2017). Explaining immigration preferences: Disentangling skill and prevalence. Research & Politics, 4(4), 205316801773407. doi:10.1177/2053168017734076

Disciplinary perspective: Political science

The credibility of the source: Peer-reviewed article.

Hypotheses/Research questions: Skill prevalence affects the preference of immigrants from different countries.

Description of subjects: Nationality representatives of over 12,000 respondents, e.g. Mexico, India, Canada among others.

Study design description: Experimentation design.

Main findings:

• Skill premium is not confounded to prevalence.
• High-skilled immigrants are preferred among all nations.

Study Limitations: The study, though suggests that there is prejudice against low-skilled Mexicans, does not assess the differences in people's response to stigmatized groups as compared to culturally similar whites and high-skilled model minorities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the incorporation of immigrants in the United States is faced with different challenges despite the positive contribution they have towards the country's economy. The politics of skill prevalence is one of the challenges affecting the preference of immigrants from different sending countries. Other challenges include the mental health of immigrants and the relationship between undocumented immigrants and crime rates in America.

References

Abramitzky, R., & Boustan, L. (2017). Immigration in American Economic History. Journal of Economic Literature, 55(4), 1311-1345. doi:10.1257/jel.20151189

Firebaugh, G. (2010). Doing Social Science: Evidence and Methods in Empirical Research. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 39(5), 566-567. doi:10.1177/0094306110380384o

Guides: What are credible sources?: Peer-reviewed journals. (2019, January 8). Retrieved from https://libguides.usc.edu.au/credible/peer

Is My Source Credible? - UMUC Library. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/credibility.cfm

Library Guides: Empirical Research in the Social Sciences and Education: What is Empirical Research? (2018, December 7). Retrieved from https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/emp

Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Evaluating Sources. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2019, from http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/evaluatesources