Statistics on U.S. Immigration: An Assessment of Data Needs for Future Research (1996)
Chapter: Front Matter
COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS 1994–1995
NORMAN M. BRADBURN (Chair),
National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago
JOHN E. ROLPH (Vice Chair),
Department of Information and Operations Management, School of Business Administration, University of Southern California
JOHN F. GEWEKE,
Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
JOEL B. GREENHOUSE,
Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University
ERIC A. HANUSHEK,
W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy, Department of Economics, University of Rochester
ROBERT M. HAUSER,
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison
NICHOLAS JEWELL, Vice Provost,
Chancellor’s Office, University of California, Berkeley
WILLIAM NORDHAUS,
Department of Economics, Yale University
JANET L. NORWOOD,
The Urban Institute, Washington, District of Columbia
EDWARD B. PERRIN,
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington
KEITH F. RUST,
Westat, Inc., Rockville, Maryland
DANIEL L. SOLOMON,
Associate Dean, Academic Affairs., North Carolina State University
MIRON L. STRAF, Director
COMMITTEE ON POPULATION 1994–1995
RONALD D. LEE, (Chair),
Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley
CAROLINE H. BLEDSOE,
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University
JOSÉ-LUIS BOBADILLA,
World Bank, Washington, DC
JOHN BONGAARTS,
The Population Council, New York, New York
JOHN B. CASTERLINE,
The Population Council, New York, New York
LINDA G. MARTIN,
The RAND Corp., Santa Monica, California
ROBERT A. MOFFITT,
Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University
MARK R. MONTGOMERY,
The Population Council, New York, New York
ANNE R. PEBLEY,
The RAND Corp., Santa Monica, California
RONALD R. RINDFUSS,
Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
JAMES P. SMITH,
The RAND Corp., Santa Monica, California
BETH SOLDO,
Department of Demography, Georgetown University
MARTA TIENDA,
Population Research Center, University of Chicago
AMY O. TSUI,
Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
JOHN HAAGA, Director
Acknowledgments
Many people contributed time and expertise to the workshop, and the Committee on National Statistics and the Committee on Population appreciate their cooperation and assistance. In particular, Michael Teitelbaum served most ably as chair of the workshop, and he and the workshop participants contributed many thoughts and comments to the shaping of this report. Thanks are due to those who presented papers at the workshop: Barbara Anderson, Frank D. Bean, M. Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Michael Greenwood, Guillermina Jasso, Douglas Massey, Mark Rosenzweig, Rubén Rumbaut, James P. Smith, Marta Tienda, and Michael White. The papers presented at the workshop served as the starting point for major sections of this report and are noted in the relevant sections. The workshop also benefited from the valuable and stimulating comments of panelists on the papers: Robert Bach, William Butz, Thomas Espenshade, W. Parker Frisbie, Robert Gardner, Sherrie Kossoudji, Alejandro Portes, Brian Roberts, Mary Waters, and Karen Woodrow. Special appreciation is due to those who assisted as rapporteurs: Jeffrey Passel, Lindsay Lowell, Lisa Roney, Steve Sandell, and Robert Warren.
Workshop participants realized the importance of having an ongoing discussion of changing demands for immigration statistics and especially the ways in which federal agencies attempt to respond to those data needs. One outcome of the workshop was the formation of the Interagency Taskforce on Immigration, at which representatives of federal agencies with an interest in immigration have met regularly since December 1992 under the sponsorship of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Robert Warren, research coordinator of the
INS Office of Policy and Planning, has chaired the task force.1 The task force has formed a number of working groups that are developing ideas and programs to improve immigration statistics in a variety of ways, including data on temporary migrants, data from longitudinal surveys, immigration data in the Current Population Survey, and increased exploitation of administrative data.
The agenda for the workshop was developed in consultation with Edward Lynch and Robert Warren from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Nancy Moss and Jeffery Evans from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Miron Straf from the Committee on National Statistics, and Linda Martin from the Committee on Population (now at the Rand Corp.). John Haaga from the Committee on Population assisted with the final report.
Barry Edmonston from the Committee on National Statistics was responsible for the conduct of the workshop as well as the preparation of the report. The task of coordinating the workshop was accomplished by Michele Conrad, also from the Committee on National Statistics, who helped to ready the report for publication. The report benefited from the thoughtful comments of reviewers and the editorial skills of Christine McShane of the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.
We would also like to acknowledge former members of both committees who served during the time the workshop was developed and convened. Such members of the Committee on National Statistics include Burton H. Singer (former chair), Martin H. David, Noreen Goldman, Louis Gordon, and Dorothy P. Rice. Former members of the Committee on Population include Samuel T. Preston (former chair). T. Paul Schultz, Susan C.M. Scrimshaw, Barbara Boyle Torrey, and James Trussell. The input of these former members of both committees greatly helped shape the development of the workshop.
1 | At the time of the workshop, Warren was director of the INS Statistics Division. Linda Gordon is currently acting director of the Statistics Division. |
Statistics on U.S. ImmigrationAn Assessment of Data Needs for Future Research |
