Study of a Filipino Community in California, 1979-1980

The purpose of this study was to examine the social and economic processes involved in defining and maintaining Filipino identity and ethnic solidarity within the Filipino community. The study included 130 participants consisting of 45 pre-World War II immigrants, 40 post-World War II immigrants, 26 U.S.-born Filipino-Americans, and 19 mixed-parentage Filipino-Americans. The sample consisted of residents of Salinas, CA in the late 1970s/early 1980s. In-depth interviews were conducted at the participants' home. Interviews included open-ended questions which were taped. Participants were asked about immigration experiences, ethnic identity, social relations, acculturation, economic relations, and family relationships. A Korean community hearing and a Filipino community hearing are also included in the data. The hearings were public meetings between government officials and ethnic communities; topics discussed included unemployment, poverty, housing, schools, healthcare, elderly programs, youth programs, legal services and immigration services. The Murray Archive holds additional analogous materials for this study: data for 45 of the 130 original participants in both audiotape and electronic text file formats. If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data. Audio Data Availability Note: This study contains audio data that have been digitized. There are 58 audio files available.