2,000 Families: identifying the research potential of an origins-of-migration study is an article published in the Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies. It outlines the theoretical and methodological discussions in the field, design and data of the 2,000 Families study and provides indicative findings, framed within a theoretical perspective of “dissimilation” from origins, and reflect on its potential for future migration research.
Photo credit: lugarshz
New data can answer key migration questions
Questions about the real benefits of migrating from one country to another can now be answered with the help of the unprecedented 2000 Families data.
The research team led by Dr Ayse Guveli at the University of Essex spent 5 years collecting information about men who migrated from certain regions of Turkey to Europe in the 1960s and the impact this had on their lives, the lives of their children and their grandchildren no matter where they ended up in the world.
The study, 2000 Families: Migration Histories of Turks in Europe, has collected and now published information on nearly 50,000 individuals.
The data includes information about the complete genealogies of 2000 ancestors who were born in five high sending regions in Turkey between 1925 and 1945. Eighty per cent of these ancestors moved to Europe between 1960 and 1974 while 20% stayed put.
From basic information about where they are from, their age and sex to their education and jobs, their religion, family and friendship networks and their attitudes, beliefs and orientation about gender roles, politics and culture, the data is now available for researchers around the world to use in their efforts to better understand the real impacts of migration.
The researchers behind the project have already published a book which takes a first look at what the study can tell us about how migrants get on compared with those who stay behind.
From the sort of education and jobs they get to how many children they have, their attitudes towards gender equality and religion, the book provides fascinating insights into the effects of migration on families over three to four generations.
Ayse Guveli hopes other researchers will now delve into the freely-available data-set to look at a range of migration research questions.
Because we collected information from those who left, those who stayed and those who returned, this detailed and rich information can help us understand much better who benefits and who loses in the migration process. We also get a much better feel for the impact that moving has on people’s attitudes and beliefs around important issues such as gender equality and arranged marriage.
The data is available to download from the GESIS data service.
Listen to lead researcher Ayse Guveli talk about the 2000 Families project .
Photo credit: 4 en 5 mai Amsterdam
2000 Families: identifying the research potential of an origins-of- migration study is a Discussion Paper in the NORFACE Migration series.
The article outlines the development, data and design of the 2000 Families study, framed in a theoretical perspective of ‘dissimilation’ from origins and over generations and reflects on the potential of the study for migration research.
Transnationalism and intergenerational change : Cross-border ties to “origin country” Turkey in the third generation is research looking at how long-lasting the ties are between migrants and their origin country.
Published in the German journal, Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung, the study by Helen Baykara-Krumme uses the 2000 Families data to examine the development of transnational ties from the migrant grandfather who left Turkey and moved to Western Europe to the grandchildren, who are at home in Western Europe. It goes on to analyse the main mechanisms operating in the third generation.
Findings show that transnational activities and ties decrease over generations, but the development is not the same for all aspects. Grandchildren continue to be transnationally involved regardless of their structural and social integration in the residence country. Parents turn out to be important role models in the larger transnational social space as they transmit transnational ties to their children.
Returning, staying, or both? Mobility patterns among elderly Turkish migrants after retirement is research looking at when and why long-term migrants stay or leave their destination country.
The article, by 2000 Families researcher Helen Baykara-Krumme uses the data to look at the movements of the study’s participants when they retire; whether they stay in their destination country, permanently move back to their country of origin or go back and forth.
The study finds that transnational migration is common among participants aged 65 or over. Key factors in a permanent return to Turkey are owning property there and religiosity.
Transmigrants and stayers in Europe have intense transnational ties with a strong attachment to their country of origin.
Intergenerational relationships in old age: Turkish families in Turkey and in Western Europe is research which explores the consequences of international migration on family relationships of elderly migrants.
Published in German and freely available in the Social Science Open Access Repository, the research compares intergenerational relationships among migrants from Turkey who live in Europe with those among non-migrants who never went abroad and a third group, transnational families.
2000 Families researcher Helen Baykara-Krumme’s article indicates more intense intergenerational relationships in migrant families as compared to families in Turkey, but lower agreement with norms on intergenerational solidarity among the former.