Non-immigrant Population Research Articles

Assessing the Quality of Household Panel Data: The Case of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Evidence from a number of methodological studies are used to assess the overall quality of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Despite substantial cumulative non-response over the nearly two decades spanned by the study, the sample is found to maintain its representation of the nonimmigrant population of the United States. The most important reasons for this result are that the study's following rules insure that the sample replaces itself in the same manner as the population (through the formation of new families by the offspring of old) and that nonresponse is largely unsystematic. Nonresponse also appears to be largely random with respect to parameters in a number of behavioral models. The accuracy of measures is assessed by comparing survey measures with national aggregates and with highly accurate individual validating data. PSID reports of transfer income appear to compare more favorably with program aggregates than do reports from other large-scale surveys such as the Current Popul...

Mexican immigrants and the utilization of U.S. health services: The case of San Diego

This paper examines survey data gathered from 2103 Mexican immigrants living or working in San Diego County, California, in order to explore four fundamental questions concerning the utilization of health services: (a) What type of health services do Mexican immigrants use? (b) When hospitals are used, do they tend to be emergency room services? (c) Do Mexican immigrants use preventive services? (d) To what extent do the utilization patterns of undocumented immigrants differ from their legally-immigrated counterparts? The socioeconomic profile of the sample is characterized through analysis of variables such as sex, age, length of residence in the U.S., occupation and income. Mexican immigrants, particularly the undocumented, are relatively young compared to the non-immigrant population, of short duration in the U.S. and earn low income. In addition, undocumented and legally-immigrated respondents are covered by medical insurance at rates far below the general population. Mexican immigrants, including the undocumented, use a variety of health services. Hospital services are not the primary source of care. However, when undocumented respondents did use hospital services, they were more likely to use emergency room care than their legally-immigrated counterparts, who were more likely to use out-patient services. Finally, undocumented respondents tended to neglect preventive services as evidenced by examination of the use of pre-natal care, general check-ups and dental services.

Non-Immigrant Foreign Students

IN THE academic year 1960-1961, New York I University enrolled some 3200 students who were foreign citizens ? a larger number perhaps than any other institution of higher education i n the United States. Nearly two-thirds of these persons (1944) held temporary visas. 1 Concern about the educational and related needs and interests of these foreign students on temporary visas recently led New York University to ask their cooperation in a study of their problems, with a view toward im proving the services the University offers in help ing to resolve them. Some of the data developed i in this study seem to be of general interest and will be summarized in this article. As a preface to this summary, a brief discussion of the study methodology follows. On May 1, 1961, a twenty-page questionnaire was mailed to the 1944 persons holding temporary visas and who were in residence for at least one of the two regular semesters during 1960-1961. The questionnaire was designed by Dr. John Dale Rus sell (then Director of NYU's Office of Institutional Research), under the general guidance of an ad hoc Committee on Foreign Students. In addition to the usual personal data, the questionnaire contained clusters of items about academic, physical, finan cial, social, and cultural needs and interests of the respondents. The last question solicited com ments about subjects not fully developed. In answer to this invitation for comment, fully a third of the respondents (384 by the time data processing got under way), appended statements, many exceeding 200 words in length. In addition, literally hundreds of explanatory notes were scattered throughout the completed questionnaires. These qualitative data have been found to be invaluable in interpreting the quantitative responses. When compared with known parameters such as sex and country of citizenship, the respondents seemed to constitute a fairly good sample not only of New York University's non-immigrant foreign student population but also of all foreign students on temporary visas in the United States. Although differences in questionnaire construction make I direct comparisons hazardous between NYU's study and the excellent investigation directed by Dr. Homer Higbee, we quite agree with his judgment that our findings are thoroughly consonant with (his) in those areas where we were looking for approximately the same things. 2 Unfortunately, the small number of African students in our sam ple makes any comparison questionable between our data and the HE Survey of the African Student. 3