Immigration

Abstract

People have always been on the move. Sometimes they migrated over great distances, sometimes only a few miles, sometimes in regular circular movements in rhythm with the seasons, sometimes never to return to their place of departure. The study of such a general phenomenon requires a perspective from which to select the characteristics that we want to analyze. In studies on the micro level, the focus is primarily on individuals: the migrant's decision whether to leave or to stay, his or her process of adaptation to the new environment, and so on. Sociologists, however, tend to concentrate on migration and its causes and consequences as a social phenomenon. The unit of analysis is not the individual migrant but the migration flow, not immigrants as individuals but immigrant populations and their characteristics. The volume of the migration flow, its demographic structure (e.g., only young males, whole families, etc.), and the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the immigrant population (the mix and levels of educational attainment) are all relevant variables for the description of immigration as a social phenomenon that cannot be studied at the individual level.