The four Visegrad states — Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia (until 1993 Czechoslovakia) and Hungary — form a compact area between Germany and Austria in the west and the states of the former USSR in the east. They are bounded by the Baltic in the north and the Danube river in the south. They are cut by the Sudeten and Carpathian mountain ranges, which divide Poland off from the other states. Poland is an extension of the North European plain and like the latter is drained by rivers that flow from south to north west — the Oder, the Vlatava and the Elbe, the Vistula and the Bug. The Danube is the great exception, flowing from its source eastward, turning through two 90-degree turns to end up in the Black Sea, forming the barrier and often the political frontier between central Europe and the Balkans. Hungary to the east of the Danube is also an open plain. The region is historically and culturally part of western Europe, but its eastern Marches now represents a vital strategic zone between Germany and the core of the European Union to the west and the Russian zone to the east.

Economy and Society

The Child in America: Behavior Problems and Programs

The Nature of Prejudice

The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things.

The Reality of the Mass Media

Leben in Armut: Analysen der Verhaltensweisen armer Haushalte mit Umfragedaten

Die Verwendung der juristischen Kategorie des Auslanders in der amtlichen deutschen Statistik und in sozialwissenschaftlichen Darstellungen des Zuwanderungs- und Integrationsgeschehens wird in Frage gestellt Einburgerungen haben in der vergangenen Dekade zu einer bedeutsamen quantitativen Differenz zwischen dem Personenkreis der Auslander und dem der Zuwanderer gefuhrt Juristische und administrative Determinanten der Einburgerungspraxis fuhren zu unbekannten Selektivitatseffekten im ubergang zwischen diesen Aggregaten, die die Bedeutung der Staatsangehorigkeit fur sozialwissenschaftliche Betrachtungen zusehends unklar erscheinen lassen Anhand zweier Stichproben zeigt der Beitrag, dass eingeburgerte Zuwanderer eine wesentlich gunstigere soziookonomische Platzierung aufweisen als Auslander derselben Herkunft Vor diesem Hintergrund wird der Schluss gezogen, dass jede Berichterstattung uber den Stand der Integration von Zuwanderern in die vertikalen Strukturen der Aufnahmegesellschaft ein ubermasig pessimistisches Bild zeichnet, wenn sie nur Daten uber Auslander benutzt, da sie die unter Bildungs-, Beschaftigungs- und Einkommensaspekten erfolgreichsten Zuwanderer buchstablich in der deutschen Bevolkerung versteckt Die Forderung nach einer angemessenen Berucksichtigung Eingeburgerter in Erhebungsinstrumenten und Stichprobenverfahren wird erhoben

Ausländer, Eingebürgerte und das Problem einer realistischen Zuwanderer-Integrationsbilanz

Die Frage wird behandelt, welchen Einflus vier unterschiedliche Ziehungsverfahren auf die Reprasentativitat von Zuwandererstichproben haben und welchen Aufwand sie verursachen. Melderegisterauszuge nach Staatsangehorigkeit schliesen eingeburgerte Migranten aus und bedingen einen mit der regionalen Streuung und der Zahl einbezogener Kommunen steigenden finanziellen und Verhandlungsaufwand. Auswahlen auf der Grundlage von Gebietseinheiten wie das Random-Route-Verfahren kommen nur in Frage, wenn ein Screening vorgeschaltet wird. Mit sinkendem Anteil der Zuwandererpopulation an der Wohnbevolkerung werden sie ineffizienter und teurer. Das Schneeballverfahren begunstigt uberproportional die Ziehung von Individuen mit grosen Kontaktnetzwerken und ergibt keine Wahrscheinlichkeitsstichproben. Namensorientierte Verfahren sind kostengunstig bei geringerer Aktualitat des Auswahlbestands und Abstrichen hinsichtlich seiner Vollstandigkeit. Fur die einzelnen Verfahren werden praktische Erfahrungen aus der Umfrageforschung geschildert.

Die Stichprobenziehung bei Zuwandererbefragungen

The paper discusses techniques for sampling the “migrant background” population in Germany, which comprises all first-generation immigrants, all non-citizens born in Germany, and all children with at least one parent fulfilling one of these criteria. Random walk sampling and random digit dialing techniques are feasible for sampling this population as a whole, but inefficient for subgroups. Telephone directories provide biased representations of the population, and the large proportion of non-pubs disqualifies their use. The Central Register of Foreigners excludes naturalized immigrants and introduces a socio-economic bias toward the less successful. Snowballing overrepresents persons with larger ethnic networks. The center sampling technique may encounter particular problems in Germany due to settlement patterns and legal issues affecting certain immigrants. Local authority Population Registers provide the best representation of the population. Foreign citizenship fails to identify the target population as it largely underestimates numbers and distorts the social structure. Place of birth is a suitable criterion to identify the Aussiedler population (ethnic German immigrants from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union). In most cases, however, foreign names best serve the purpose of unbiased sampling. Therefore, name-based sampling in the Population Registers is the method of choice. However, the decentralized administration of Population Registers makes this a costly endeavor and although there is a certain legal sampling interface, there are still legal obstacles to optimal implementation of this sampling procedure.

/pdf/sampling-the-ethnic-minority-population-in-germany-the-203feyjeyw.pdf

Sampling the Ethnic Minority Population in Germany. The Background to “Migration Background

This study examines perceived ethnic discrimination (as opposed to “objective” discrimination). It includes a discussion of definitions of discrimination and attempts to measure it, and a review of findings on the distribution of discrimination experiences among minorities. The aim of the study is to determine the influence of factors that increase the risk of exposure to situations in which discrimination can take place (exposure hypothesis), and those that sensitize perceptions and give rise to different frequencies of subjective feelings of discrimination (sensitization hypothesis). A standardized questionnaire was adminis- tered to a random sample of German-born persons of Turkish and Greek origin and Aussiedler (ethnic Germans born in the former Soviet Union) (total N = 301). Minorities of non-German, especially of Turkish origin reported significantly more discrimination than Aussiedler in a set of nineteen everyday situations. A bivari- ate correlation was found between number of incidents reported and employment status with homemakers reporting the fewest incidents. However, multiple regression analysis yielded no significant effect, thus lending no clear support to the exposure hypothesis. Frequency of contacts with German friends has no effect and seems not to entail an increase in exposure opportunities, but may lead to a desensitization to discrimination due to the erosion of the relevance of ethnic categories. On the other hand, an influence through intra-ethnic contacts clearly occurs, as frequency of contact with co-ethnic friends exerts a strong positive effect on experienced discrimination. A similar effect was found for ethnic self-awareness. The latter finding confirms the sensitization hypothesis.

/pdf/determinants-of-experience-of-discrimination-in-minorities-2kpu1pvcj4.pdf

Kurt Salentin

Papers

Leben in Armut: Analysen der Verhaltensweisen armer Haushalte mit Umfragedaten

Ausländer, Eingebürgerte und das Problem einer realistischen Zuwanderer-Integrationsbilanz

Die Stichprobenziehung bei Zuwandererbefragungen

Sampling the Ethnic Minority Population in Germany. The Background to “Migration Background

Determinants of Experience of Discrimination in Minorities in Germany