Opinion Study on Immigration, Race & Education by Survey Analysis

Methods conducted on CUNY York College Campus

Sasha Heralall

Abstract

The subject of immigration often brings up various conflicting views, portraying negative and positive

attitudes towards immigrants and immigration. Many U.S citizens often complain about the recent influx

of immigrants into the country and want to acquire a quick solution to prevent to continuation of illegal

immigration. Though these factors do pose as a current problem in social society there are many other

factors that play a role in the creation of unfavorable attitudes on outsiders, including racial and ethnic

stereotyping and prejudice. Demographical factors also influence how people perceive immigrants and

whether or not they are believed to support and contribute to the growth and progression of the U.S

economy. We have formed a hypothesis in this study and assume that overall, individuals in Queens,

New York will support immigration and agree that immigrants contribute positively to the U.S economy.

Our method data used consists of a standard survey that was distributed on York College campus to 395

students. Data has also been gathered from research sources and articles relating to the topic of

discussion and contain previous information gathered on American attitudes on U.S immigration and

immigration policies. In our results we found that immigrants on campus do tend to support immigration

rather than go against it but our limitations indicates there was no significance between independent and

dependent variables of our topic and our study may have been inconsistent due to sample size and the

conciseness of the questions created in the survey.

Introduction

Immigrants come into a new country either being drawn to it or fleeing from the circumstances

they leave behind in their homeland. How has race been a contributing factor into how people perceive

immigrants? How do other demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and level of education play

a part in the opinions people have on immigration? How do others view immigrants coming into the

country from foreign countries and cultures? These are some questions I would like to find answers to

and focus on in this project.

Many times people like to judge and criticize people who are different from them and those who

do not follow the norm. Immigrants, for example, are subject to this because they have been raised in a

foreign country with their own values, customs, and norms. I want to know what peoples opinions are of

immigrants in order to find out how immigrants impact society and contribute to this country.

In the past recent years immigration laws have become much stricter because of the large amounts of

foreigners that are drawn to coming to the US. Some citizens believe immigrants are coming into this

country and taking our jobs and decreasing the quality of American life, in turn increasing crime rates

along with other negative outcomes. Despite these acquisitions I believe immigrants contribute more

positively instead of negatively to U.S society.

I will use our data survey that was distributed to college student on the campus of York College

along with research articles, research surveys that were tested and further statistics to do this research

paper. The survey will consist of a list of questions addressing immigration and how people perceive the

presence of immigrants in this country. For example, a question that would be asked is determined on

how much the respondent agrees or disagrees with the statement “Immigrants contribute positively to

the U.S economy” or “Immigrants should not come to the US to acquire an education”. The average

answer chosen for each question will then be taken from the survey and used to correlate a concluding

assessment of whether majority of people tend to support immigration or generally oppose it.

Annotated Bibliography

Ayers, J. W., Hofstetter, C., Schnakenberg, K., & Kolody, B. (2009). Is Immigration a Racial

Issue? Anglo Attitudes on Immigration Policies in a Border County. Social Science Quarterly

(Blackwell Publishing Limited), 90(3), 593-610.

In this study the authors want to know the association between Americans attitudes of aversion towards

immigrants and what demographical factors influence people’s opinions on ethnic minorities. The

method data used in this study is drawn from a telephone survey of San Diego County, California with

residents used random digit dial procedures during 2005 to 2006. The authors found that respondents

projected a negative outlook on immigrants which related to a more conservative attitude about illegal

and Mexican immigration in particular. Attitudes about immigration may be motivated more by racial

resentments than other considerations. I will be using this article to further indicate that negative views

on immigration by the American population and believing that immigrants do not contribute to U.S

society are driven by negative assumptions, and may be more of a racial issue than anything else.

Esses, V. M., Dovidio, J. F., & Hodson, G. (2002). Public Attitudes Toward Immigration in the

United States and Canada in Response to the September 11, 2001 “Attack on America”.

Analyses Of Social Issues & Public Policy, 2(1), 69-85.

In this paper the authors want to know how first experiences or highly impacted experiences involving

immigrants can affect Americans way of thinking about immigration and immigrants coming into the

U.S. The recent trends in North American immigration as referring to this gave negative attitudes

towards immigration. This article discusses why public attitudes on immigration are important to

American society and how negative opinions on immigrants are created as well as the short term and

long term trends in attitudes among the American people. The method data used in this study are

gathered by using a Gallop poll conducted in June 2001 as well as a survey report that asks people

questions dealing with the current position on immigration and what attitudes were extracted from the

data received. This paper also touches on the importance of positive economic and humanitarian

considerations in U.S immigration policies that are a valuable asset in a strong economic basis of

immigration policy and igniting the progression for stagnant economies. The authors find that measuring

how people feel about immigrants during a time of U.S crisis brings about unfavorable attitudes toward

immigration, but the validity of this study come into question because it triggers an emotional impact of

unique feelings toward the subject such as anxiety, vulnerability, and anger due to the attack on 9/11. I

will be using this study to portray how negative attitudes towards immigrants are brought about due to

the fear of attacks on our country and foreigners may feel unwelcome in this sense when coming to live

in the U.S.

Fennelly, K., & Federico, C. (2008). Rural Residence as a Determinant of Attitudes Toward US

Immigration Policy. International Migration, 46(1), 151-190.

In this paper, there is a focus on region of residence and use method data from a 2004 telephone survey

of a nationally representative sample of 1,888 adults to test the hypothesis that rural Americans are more

likely to support restrictive immigration policies than individuals in urban and suburban communities.

The authors want to know whether rural Americans are more likely to support conservative immigration

policies than individuals from other locations such as urban areas. Additional information indicated

towards the effect of rural residence on attitudes on strict immigration policies and attitudes toward

multiculturalism, the perceived traits of immigrants, and perceptions about the costs of immigration. The

authors found that their hypothesis was correct according to the data that was gathered, resulting in an

analysis of people living in rural areas having more of a conservative view towards immigration as

opposed to individuals from urban areas who were more likely to encounter and associate with

immigrants. I will be using this article to find out the popular opinions on how people perceive

immigrants and demographic information on what factors may influence positive opinions on U.S

immigration, such as gender, income level, age and education.

Janus, A. L. (2010). The Influence of Social Desirability Pressures on Expressed Immigration

Attitudes. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited), 91(4), 928-946.

In this article the author wants to know the probability of Americans that are against conservative

immigration policies depending on whether they have been well educated or liberal in politics and aware

of what is going on in political news standings. These groups are much more likely to support

immigration into the U.S and the there is a great influence in whether the individual is involved in

political party affiliation and the ideologies as well as social problems that are being faced. The author

uses method data as evidence from a standard telephone survey which 912 respondents were randomly

selected participated in and a June 2007 Gallup poll in which respondents are questioned about their

racial attitudes towards immigration laws and which individuals are more likely to support these

policies, based on level of education and how they have labeled themselves according to political party

association. The authors findings from the study conclude that respondents often hide their true opinions

of immigrants when asked to contribute their thoughts in a public survey. The authors have found that

previous immigration surveys relating to natives attitudes contain a response bias and participants tend

to answer questions with what they believe is socially desirable in that instance. I will be using this

paper to counter my hypothesis that majority of people, especially those who are highly educated and

liberal in politics have an overall positive opinion of immigrants and do not wish to cut off immigration.

Kotkin, J., & Ozuna, E. (2012). America’s Demographic Future. CATO Journal, 32(1), 55-69.

The article discusses the demography and future outcomes of the U.S in the context of a decrease of

immigrants to the country since 2007. It includes the effects on labor market shortages and economic

stagnation in Western countries due to the recent lowered immigrant population. The authors want to

know how the demographic future of this country will impact U.S public opinion on immigrants and the

U.S. government policies in regard to immigration and whether they have contributed positively to

uphold the economy. The method data used in the article include information from the 2011 U.S Census

Bureau as well as the U.S Census Bureau International Database and the 2011 Pew Hispanic Center. The

authors argue that restricting U.S immigration will result in a decline in entrepreneurship and innovation

in the country. The authors found that the continuation of newcomers into the U.S is necessary for

economic growth and prosperity in addition to maintaining our demographic and cultural diversity. I will

be using this article for the updated demographics on immigration in the U.S and how a multiracial

population will serve as a beneficial factor to America’s society and economic growth. This will portray

to claims that immigrants contribute positively to the U.S society and they are an important part of this

country to keep America on top as one of the leading and most powerful countries.

Lee, J., & Bean, F. D. (2004). America’s Changing Color Lines: Immigration, Race/Ethnicity,

and Multiracial Identification. Annual Review Of Sociology, 30(1), 221-242.

Immigration has been increasing the racial and ethnic diversity in the United States. The United States is

now a society composed of multiple racial and ethnic groups. Because of multiracial bonds, this has led

people to be more open to interracial marriages and friendships, and possibly leading to a decrease of

discrimination between races. The authors want to know of the findings concerning immigration,

intermarriage, and multiracial identification as well as how these factors can constrict the boundaries

between natives and foreigners of this country. Changing the color lines in America would be a positive

outlook on social change for society and people. The method data used in this study includes a number

of previous articles that deal with the subject along with the 2002 U.S Census Bureau and the 2000 INS

Statistical Yearbook for U.S National Immigration. The authors found that according to the current

statistical trends of immigration, intermarriage and multicultural identification there will be an increase

in marriage between different races which will bring about growth in the multiracial population and

result in slowly weakening the color lines. This will create a greater chance of people building relations

with other races and ethnicities which can prevent racial prejudice and discrimination. I will be using

information from this article pertaining to immigration and race and how multiracial relationships affect

and influence those to have positive views of immigrants coming into the US.

Lu, L., & Nicholson-Crotty, S. (2010). Reassessing the Impact of Hispanic Stereotypes on White

Americans' Immigration Preferences. Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited),

91(5), 1312-1328.

In this article discusses the authors want to know the stereotypes created and institutionalized into

people that may greatly impact their opinions and perspectives on immigrants. More general ideas of

cultural and economic concerns about increasing immigration have been involved in the formation of

those attitudes. The method data used in this paper is conducted to test the impact of stereotypes on

immigration preferences in data from the Multi-Ethnic Module of the 2000 General Social Survey.

According to the data it is confirmed that negative stereotypes are a significantly larger predictor of

general attitudes about immigration, especially in preferences to ethnicity and race. The authors find that

the results suggest ethnic stereotypes are significantly more important in determining immigration

preferences among Americans when making judgment calls on immigration and immigration policies. I

will be using this article to indicate that negative attitudes towards immigration are usually fueled

through racial prejudice against immigrants and false or unjustified stereotypes. These opinions rationed

by Americans and the explanation behind their views will help in building on a concise conclusion.

Painter II, M. A., & Qian, Z. (2010). Color Lines, Country Lines: Race, Immigration, and

Wealth Stratification in America - by Lingxin Hao. Journal Of Marriage & Family, 72(2), 396-

397.

The rising immigration rates continue to shape and reshape America. This generates economic fluxes for

the US society. The method data used in the study is from a 2003 panel of the Survey of Income and

Program Participation (SIPP) which involved a number of 216,000 plus natives to the U.S and 23,000

immigrants. The authors want to know the average position of majority immigrant workers that have

been stratified onto the economic ladder and do immigrants prosper from American living, granted their

wealth accumulation. Immigrants do in fact come to the U.S in search for better job opportunities and if

they are successful in landing a respectable job they may achieve upward mobility in America, which

displays positive contribution to U.S economy. If they do not maintain employment then they are likely

to fall victim to social stratification and the negative affect it bears in constraining immigrants to the

bottom of American society. The authors find that the difference in inequality of wealth attainment

between immigrants of color and U.S natives are not as greatly significant as it was hypothesized to be. I

will be using this article to show how immigrants contribute to the US economy in both a negative and

positive perspective due to wealth stratification in America and how it affects immigrants.

Yueh-Ting, L., & Ottati, V. (2002). Attitudes Toward U.S. Immigration Policy: The Roles of In- Group-

Out-Group Bias, Economic Concern, and Obedience to Law. Journal Of Social Psychology,

142(5), 617-634.

In this article the authors want to know what respondents opinions will be towards California’s

Proposition 187, which is an immigration policy against illegal immigrants and the denial of certain

benefits such as education, housing, and health care as well as directing and overseeing deportation of

illegal immigrants. This policy is targeted primarily toward Mexican immigrants and they hypothesize

that the study will show that Non-Hispanic or Caucasian participants will generally favor Proposition

187 while Hispanic or Mexican participants would not. The method data used consisted of two sample

groups in a total of 201 participants that took part in a standard survey; 101 U.S citizens from a

university in Springfield, Massachusetts and a recruitment of 100 Mexican citizens that attended a

university in Mexico City and spoke fluent English. Authors found that their hypothesis was viable

based on the data received. Mexican participants were more likely than U.S participants to favor against

the immigration policy of Proposition 187 in California while American participants expressed positive

opinions toward the proposition on dealing with illegal immigration in the U.S. I will be using this

article in my study to generally counter my claim that Americans favor immigration but I will also use

this information to explain the inaccuracy towards a particular question in our survey which is “Anyone

interested in becoming a legal resident should be granted residency”. Many respondents who answered

based on how they felt about this statement were unsure about it and majority of them responded with

neither agree or disagree (neutral). This can be connected to the uncertainty of thoughts toward illegal

immigration and respondents may have negative attitudes toward this subject but do not wish to disclose

these conflicting sentiments.

Methods

The purpose of this study was to first examine the relationship between the respondents of the

study and their opinions on immigrants and immigration which can be influenced by a number of

demographical factors. The study intended to compare the difference in opinions based on these factors

and what the majority of participants thought of immigrants, whether it was in a positive or negative

light.

The data was derived from a survey dealing with immigration, race, and education in which 395

respondents took part. Majority of the population were York College students, or people ranging from 18

to 26 years of age. The survey was to be given out on college campus in the months of October and

November in 2012. The total sample size is 395, where 44% of the respondents were male and 56% of

them were female. The total percentage of African Americans that participated were 47.1%, there were

17.7% Hispanics, 17.2% Asian Americans, 8.9% Caucasian, and only 2% representing the Native

American population.

The percentage of participants that are immigrants is 45.6%, which accounts for 180 out of the

395 people that participated in the study. The other 215 respondents that were non-immigrants (52.4%)

however, were more than likely to have parents that were immigrants which accounted for 72.5% and

grandparents that lived in a foreign country; 81.3%. Majority of participants responded that their

household income ranged from $30,000-$49,000 on a year to year basis and education levels of

participants in the survey consisted of 42% that answered “some college”, 12.2% saying bachelor’s

degree, 16% with associates degrees, and 14% responding high school or GED.

Immigrant acceptance was measured by students’ responses to five survey questions on the

survey distributed on York College campus. The first question was regarding whether immigrants should

come to the U.S in search of a better life, and the second question asked if immigrants contributed

positively to the U.S economy. These questions were ranked from choices of strongly disagree to

strongly agree; 1 being strongly disagree, 2 being disagree, 3 being neutral (neither agree or disagree), 4

being agree, and 5 being strongly agree. The other three statements in respect to immigration dealt with

immigrants coming to the U.S to acquire an education, foreigners interested in legal U.S residency, and

whether there should be a decrease in the current population of immigrants in the U.S. These survey

questions also consisted of the same choices ranked from 1 to 5.

For our analysis of this study we also tested independent and dependent variable in two T-test

samples, two Pearson’s correlations, and a cross tabulation test to measure the significance in data we

received. The independent variables for both T-test samples were gender of participants (men and

women) and the dependent variable included participants attitudes toward immigration, such as whether

the believe there should be a decrease in immigration into the U.S and whether immigrants contribute

positively to the U.S economy. In our Pearson’s correlation the independent variable for both tests were

age of the participant and the dependent variables were if participants believed immigrants contributed

positively to the U.S economy and whether immigrants should come to the U.S in search of a better life.

Our cross tabulations measured the ratio of black and non-black participants, and the percentage of

individuals that generally agreed with the statement “Immigrants should come to the U.S in search of a

better life”.

Results

The survey asked questions pertaining to the satisfaction of current immigrant population in the

U.S, attitudes towards immigration, and positive or negative contributions of immigrants on the U.S

overall. According to the survey data, the participant’s opinions on immigrants and immigration were

positive for the most part, with an 86.6% of positive answers given for question 1 which states

“immigrants should come to the U.S in search of a better life. This proves that overall, participants chose

to support immigrants coming to the U.S to benefit themselves. Respondents showed an 84.6% of

positive answers given for question 2 which states “immigrants contribute positively to the U.S

economy. This percentage of votes concludes that most of the people that participated in this survey

agree that immigrants make a positive contribution to the U.S and do not impact upon our economy in a

negative way. Participants gave a 81.8% of negative votes given towards question 3 which says

“immigrants should not come to the U.S to acquire an education”. This shows that survey participants

support immigrants coming to the U.S to further their education”. About 50% of participants were more

likely to agree with the statement given in question 4 while 30% of participants chose to take a neutral

stance or neither agree or disagree on the question which asked if “anyone interested in becoming a legal

resident should be granted residency. Participants may have been unsure about what question 4 was

asking because the statement was possibly not clear enough. In question 5 respondents gave negative

answers for the most part, (71.7%) and chose to either strongly disagree or disagree with it, which states

“there needs to be a decrease in immigration to the U.S”. This data implies that participants most likely

support immigration into the U.S and are satisfied with the current immigrant population in the U.S.

Overall, people who took part in this survey gave supporting answers towards immigrants and

immigration which means they have positive opinions on the matter.

For further analysis of our data collected in survey distributed on college campus we ran a

number of sample tests, correlations, and cross tabulations to find the significance between particular

independent variables such as age and gender, and the dependent variables in this instance being the

attitudes participants conceive towards immigrants. These tests would also help to identify the leading

factors that influence positive and negative attitudes on immigration.

An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare whether participants believe there

should be a decrease in immigration into the U.S for men and women. There was not a significant

difference in the scores for males (M= 2.53, SD= 1.028) and females (M= 2.39, SD= 1.205); t(387)=

1.26, p= .210. These results suggest that there is no significant difference in the answers given from men

and women about the opinions of whether immigration should decrease in the U.S.

An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare whether participants believe

immigrants contribute positively to the U.S economy for men and women. There was not a significant

difference in the scores for males (M= 4.20, SD= .021) and females (M= 4.22, SD= 1.003); t(387)= -.17,

p= .869. These results suggest that there is no significant difference in the answers given from men and

women about the opinions of whether immigrants contribute positively to U.S economy.

A Pearson’s correlation was computed to assess the relationship between how participants

responded to immigrants coming to the U.S in search of a better life and the age of the participant. There

was a weak correlation between the two variables [r= -0.118, n= 395, p= 0.021] There was a weak,

negative correlation between the two variables and there was no significance in the relationship. This

says that the younger the participant is, the more positive their opinion will be on immigration.

A Pearson’s correlation was computed to assess the relationship between the ages of the

participant and if they believe immigrants contribute positively to the U.S economy. There was a weak,

negative correlation between the two variables [r= .028, n= 395, p= .579] Overall, there was a weak

correlation between the age of participants and if they agree with the statement that immigrants

contribute positively to the U.S economy. This says that the younger the participant is the more they

agreed with the statement.

A cross tabulation test was conducted to address the distinction between black and non-black

participants and what the majority of individuals answered in account of whether immigrants should

come to the U.S in search of a better life. Based on our data 154 participants of black heritage tended to

agree with the statement that immigrants should be allowed to come to the U.S in search of a better life.

Only 15 out of the 395 participants involved generally disagree with the statement. As a result of this

data it can be said that blacks support the progression and continuation of newcomers settling in the U.S

and seeking to benefit themselves.

Discussion

Even though we did not conduct any significance in our data collected from the surveys there is

still evidence that supports our claim that overall, participants tend to support immigration and have

positive views in regards to immigrants. Also, based on previous studies on the subject as well as the

respondents answers to the statement in our own survey “Immigrants contribute positively to the U.S

economy” individuals generally agree that immigrants play a significant role in the growth and

progression of our economy. According to both Painter and Kotkin, immigrants contribute greatly to

society and are of significant importance to U.S economy. We must encourage immigrants to come to

the U.S in search of an advanced education and careers so that we may achieve and maintain a

competitive edge in the world. Immigrants who come to the U.S in search of jobs help to increase the

labor force and create skilled workers and entrepreneurs for this country. (Kotkin & Ozuna, 63).

There are however negative attitudes that can be conceived towards immigration and foreigners

moving into this country based on a number of social, physiological, and demographical factors. Ayer’s

points out that attitudes on immigration can be greatly influence by racial outlooks and those who

responded to oppose allowance of immigrant benefits in the U.S also practice aversion to individuals of

ethnic backgrounds. (Ayers & Hofstetter, 605). Esses goes even further into the discussion of how

negative attitudes are conceived on immigrants and for some individuals it may be connected to harsh

personal experiences that have created a poor perception on foreigners. She states that unfavorable

opinions may be fueled by physiological factors that have left a great emotional impact on the

individual’s life, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack on America. (Esses & Dovidio, 71). Lu also mentions

the social factors of society and the institutionalization of racial stereotyping that contribute significantly

to the establishment of negative views on people of ethnic or racial background and foreigners coming

into the U.S. Such attitudes can be connected to expressions of racism, ethnocentrism, and xenophobia

which is a fear that natives have of outsiders or foreigners invading and relocating to their country. (Lu

& Nicholson-Crotty, 1320).

Demographical factors that can influence people’s opinions on immigration include those such as

age, gender, and level of education. Fennelly mentions these influential but independent variables and

how they affect perception of foreigners. According to his sources, it suggests that in relation to gender,

men tend to be more hostile towards minorities than women. Age can account for differentiation in

attitudes due to the changing values of society in current times as opposed to the norms and values that

were shared in the past. This implies that individuals of a younger age are more likely to possess liberal

views on political and social issues rather than older individuals that tend to be more conservative in

their views. Level of education is also of great importance when it comes to immigration and

immigrants because greater knowledge on the subject and individuals who attain a better education have

less prejudice views towards immigrants and outsiders. (Fennelly, 156).

Limitations

Due to limitations of the study we were unable to find any significance between independent

variables and their dependent variables in our sampling tests. This may be due to the population group of

participants involved were undersized for this type of study and needed a larger population group to

received greater significance in data taken from the survey. Another limitation can be due to the

possibility of our study being invalid in some ways such as the participants not understanding some of

the questions asked in the survey and were confused by what answer they should choose or participants

may even feel the survey was bias in a sense and only answered in according to what they believe is

socially acceptable or what answers the researcher assumes people will give in the study.