Annotated Bibliography Worksheet

1. Citation (ASA Style):

Benson, Janel E. 2006. "Exploring the Racial Identities of Black Immigrants in the
United States." Sociological Forum 21:219-247.

2. What is the primary research question or thesis of this article?

The main focus of this study is whether native origin or skin color has
more impact in determining the racial identity of black migrants.It examines
two racial identity dimensions of racial group identification and racial group
consciousness.

3. What are the characteristics of the population studied? How many

people, ages, genders, race/ethnicity/nationality, professions etc.?
How were these people selected?
The main characteristic of the population was that they were classified as blacks
which included native born blacks as well as black migrants.

2,454 people were sampled from three cities – Atlanta, Los Angeles and Boston.
The population included people from the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Africa,
Central America and the West Indies.

The respondents were chosen from a MSCUI household survey which selected
respondents using a multistage, stratified, clustered, area-probability sampling
technique.

4. What research methods was employed by the researchers? Was this

appropriate for the population and the research question? Were
there limitations to this method?

Data for this analysis come from the MCSUI household survey3 administered
between 1992 and 1994 to a stratified random sample of adults in Boston,
Atlanta, Detroit, and Los Angeles.. In the first stage, clusters of housing units,
measured as census segments,4 are grouped by selected stratifying
characteristics, and then segments are selected with probability proportional to
estimated size (PPES) of the segments within the strata. In the second stage, a
disproportionate stratified sampling design is used to oversample minority and
poverty households. In the final stage, adults age 21 or older are randomly
selected from sampled households to be interviewed face-to-face, with a final
response rate of approximately 71%.

It was appropriate for the population and the research question. The sample
does not include foreign born black respondents from the city of Detroit.
5. What were the primary findings of the research?

Racial group identity was determined by the assimilation model of incorporation.

After a number of years of being exposed to racial discrimination of native born
blacks, black migrants came to see skin color as the primary way they are
received in the US.

Racial group consciousness tends to follow the segmented assimilation model.

The meanings blacks attach to their racial identity not only how they are treated
because of their skin color but the skills and ideologies they bring with them.

6. Critique this article, discuss method, findings, analysis, writing

style, or other elements of the research project.
The author states “ These results demonstrate that researchers must look beyond
simple measures of racial group identification to fully understand how black
migrants are making sense of their racial position in American society.” Also, the
author states “With a growing black migrant population, researchers need to focus
on collecting data specifically on the reception and experiences of non-European
migrants in the U.S. society. We need to survey large samples of non-European
migrants and comparative ethnographies of multiple migrant groups before we can
fully understand the mechanisms shaping the incorporation of black migrants in the
U.S. society.”