Mexican American Study Project, 1965-1966

The goal of the Mexican American Study Project was to conduct a comprehensive study of the experience and position of Mexican Americans using an interdisciplinary approach; the study was the most comprehensive study of this population at the time. The head of the household or the spouse from 949 Mexican American households in Los Angeles and 607 households in San Antonio were interviewed and there were 665 male and 995 female respondents. The two cities were selected since they included about a quarter of Mexican Americans in the Southwest and a third of those living in metropolitan areas. Care was taken to obtain a sample that was representative of the diversity of Mexican American life experiences. The survey instrument consisted mostly of precoded questions with a number of open-ended questions asking about the respondent's community, ethnic identity and ties with Mexican American community, educational history, work history, immigration history, household composition, attitudes towards family and education, housing, income, health, participation in religious and social organizations, and political views. The intervi ewer also completed a brief assessment of the housing and dwelling area, and of the personal characteristics of the respondent. The Murray Research Archive holds numeric file data for the Los Angeles and San Antonio survey instrument. The original surveys are archived at the UCLA library.