Country Of Ancestry Research Articles

Fertility: The Role of Culture and Family Experience

This paper attempts to disentangle the direct effects of experience from those of culture in determining fertility. We use the GSS to examine the fertility of women born in the US but from different ethnic backgrounds. We take lagged values of the total fertility rate in the woman's country of ancestry as the cultural proxy and use the woman's number of siblings to capture her direct family experience. We find that both variables are significant determinants of fertility, even after controlling for several individual and family-level characteristics.

Pedal symphalangism in modern American and Japanese skeletons

Pedal symphalangism is a surprisingly common heritable trait of the human foot. In individuals exhibiting the trait, the joint between the intermediate and distal phalanges of one or more lateral toes never develops, resulting in toes with two phalanges rather than three. This study was undertaken to explore variation in the frequency of pedal symphalangism among groups with widely different geographic ancestry, and to consider the applicability of this trait to skeletal biological distance studies. A total of 460 Euro-American, 191 African-American and 99 Japanese skeletons were examined for presence of pedal symphalangism. The American individuals date to the first half of the 20th c, while the Japanese individuals date to the late 19th and early 20th c. Although the country of ancestry is unknown for most of the American individuals, the Euro-Americans appear to be largely northern European, with roots in Germany, Ireland and Scandinavia, while the African-Americans are primarily descendants of slaves with roots in west African countries such as Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Frequencies of fifth toe pedal symphalangism were calculated and compared among all three samples and found to be significantly higher in modern Japanese (83.7%) than in either Euro-Americans (46.4%) or African-Americans (44.0%). The Euro- and African-American frequencies were statistically indistinguishable for symphalangism of the fifth toe. In the fourth toe, however, the opposite result was found. The African-American frequency (7.9%) was significantly higher than the Euro-American frequency (2.6%), while no difference was found between the African-Americans and Japanese (11.7%). Since fourth toe pedal symphalangism has never been observed in the absence of fifth toe involvement, some of the same genes are clearly involved in producing the trait in both toes. However, differences in the pattern of fourth and fifth toe expression among the three groups identified in this study suggest that additional genetic or developmental factors may play a role in expression of pedal symphalangism in each of the toes.

Hispanic healthcare disparities: challenging the myth of a monolithic Hispanic population.

Hispanic Americans are often treated as a monolithic ethnic group with a single pattern of healthcare utilization. However, there could be considerable differences within this population. We examine the association between use of healthcare services and Hispanic Americans'country of ancestry or origin, language of interview, and length of time lived in the United States. Our data come from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey of healthcare use and expenditures. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression results are presented. Multivariate models show that Mexicans and Cubans are less likely, and Puerto Ricans more likely, to have any emergency department visits than non-Hispanic whites. Mexicans, Central American/Caribbeans, and South Americans are less likely to have any prescription medications. All Hispanics are less likely to have any ambulatory visits and prescription medications, whereas only those with a Spanish-language interview are less likely to have emergency department visits and inpatient admissions. More recent immigrants are less likely to have any ambulatory care or emergency department visits, whereas all Hispanics born outside the United States are less likely to have any prescription medications. The Hispanic population is composed of many different groups with diverse health needs and different barriers to accessing care. Misconceptions of Hispanics as a monolithic population lacking within-group diversity could function as a barrier to efforts aimed at providing appropriate care to Hispanic persons and could be 1 factor contributing to inequalities in the availability, use, and quality of healthcare services in this population.

Population growth and differential fertility in Zanzibar protectorate

The demographic evolution of the Protectorate of Zanzibar which consists of 2 principal islands--Zanzibar Island and Pemba Island--has been much influenced by migration. Unfortunately both the migration statistics and vital registration are inadequate to provide a sound basis for demographic analysis which consequently must be confined to census data. 5 complete censuses have been conducted since the beginning of the 20th century: 1910; 1921-24; 1931; 1948; and 1958. The total populations of the islands increased by 13.2% between 1948-58 and average annual rate of growth of 1.25% per annum. A comparison of the 1948 and 1958 census totals for the 2 islands shows that the increase in Pemba was greater both relatively and absolutely than the increase in Zanzibar. In the 1958 census an effort was made to analyze the complex ethnic composition of the population. 2 questions were included on the schedule to this end: the 1st question asked persons to state their race; and the second asked for tribe or country of ancestry. The reactions which these questions provoked is perhaps illustrative of the problems which beset census takers in present day Africa. Despite possible underrepresentation in 1958 due to misclassification the percentage increases in the Asian population in both islands were appreciably greater than those in the Afro Arab population. More important the increase in Afro Arab population in Pemba was substantially greater than in Zanzibar. These differing rates of growth of the Afro Arab populations of the 2 islands cannot be attributed to greater immigration into Pemba. It is necessary to examine the relative rates of natural increase for the principal causes of the different rates of population growth. The fertility data collected in the 1958 census indicate that the principal cause lay not in differential mortality but in the different levels of fertility recorded for the Afro Arab women in the 2 islands. The level of fertility in Zanzibar Island outside the town was only slightly lower than that in Pemba. The application of Myburghs technique of fertility analysis gave a total fertility rate of 2.65 and a crude birthrate of 21/1000 in Zanzibar Town and a total fertility rate of 4.26 and a crude birthrate of 36/1000 in the remainder of Zanzibar Island. The estimated total fertility rate of the Asian population in Zanzibar Town was 5.4 and the crude birthrate 40/1000. These rates were almost twice as high as those estimated for the Afro Arab population in the town. The exceptionally low fertility of the Afro Arab women in Zanzibar Town is a unique feature in East African demography. Certain features of the statistical evidence indicate that the low level of fertility can more readily be ascribed to physical sterility than to either lower nuptiality or family limitation.