A Comparatıve Analysıs Of The Foreıgn-Born Populatıon In Texas, 1990

This research compares socioeconomic characteristics of the foreign-born population to the “native" (non-foreign-born) American population of Texas. Two different two-way discriminant analyses were run in SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) to compare the foreign-born and native populations in small areas. Those small areas were block groups, census designated areas, which usually contain 400 to 600 households. I chose block groups with concentrations of foreign-born and compared these groups with other groups to see which socioeconomic characteristics were more important in distinguishing areas with foreign-born population from other areas. The results of the discriminant analyses showed that the areas of foreign-born concentration were different from the native areas with their lower income, lower educational levels, lower percent of people with the ability to speak English, higher percent of population with Hispanic origin, and slightly higher unemployment rates.