Gustave Goldmann

The Measurement of Acculturation

Acculturation as described in the demographic sociological and psychological literature is defined as a process of change and adaptation that results from contact between members of different cultural groups. Therefore it embodies the strategies of integration assimilation separation or segregation and marginalization. Data from the 1991 Census Public Use Microdata File are used to derive an index of acculturation.... The index is applied in a preliminary analysis of selected characteristics of immigrants [in Canada] (place of birth and mother tongue) to demonstrate the potential for this indicator. (EXCERPT) (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Measuring ethnicity: Is ‘Canadian’ an evolving indigenous category?

Abstract Measuring ethnicity in any society is a challenge. Given world immigration patterns, many countries face a growing dilemma in determining the cultural antecedents of their populations. A further complication is the reality that such determination occurs within the political and nationalistic settings where ethnic‐cultural groups may be potent forces in their own right. As societies mature and evolve, there is an increasing tendency for populations, especially those with many generations of residence in the country, to see themselves as ‘indigenous’ to the society in which they live. Canada is not alone in having to deal with the fluidity of the concept, ‘Canadian’, ‘American’, ‘Australian’, ‘Yugoslav’, and ‘Soviet’ are parallel concepts in other countries of multiple ethnic composition. Using 1991 National Census Test results, the article explores some of the parameters of the indigenous category ‘Canadian’. In particular, the location in Canada and mother tongue of respondents reporting ‘Canadia...

Intra-Generational Ethnic Flows:Ethnic Mobility in the Canadian Census

This article extends the study of ethnic mobility by examining intra-generational flows in ethnicity in Canadian census data. It expands on previous work on this topic that focused specifically on Aboriginal Peoples. This paper establishes, through an analysis of census data from 1991 to 2001, that population flows exist among selected ethnic groups in Canada that can only be explained by ethnic mobility (or transfer). It also raises concerns about deriving trends over time in analysing population groups defined by ethno-cultural characteristics.