Tag: terminology

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What is the researcher degree of freedom?

In this video, we look at what that expression “researcher degree of freedom” means. The term highlights how in quantitative research, we (have to) make a lot of choices when doing the analysis. (This actually also applies to qualitative research, but I haven’t seen the expression used in that context, yet.) These choices can affect the results we get.

I use an example to outline some of the choices in a simple regression model, and emphasize that we should try to empirically the effect of our choices on the results we report.

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Let’s stop talking about the second generation and migration background

In this video, I explain why we should stop talking about the “second generation” and “migration background”, arguing that the terms are unnecessarily broad and vague. Drawing on a recent article with Lisa Borelli, we can identify three problems (false homogeneity, focus on deficits, perpetuation of difference) showing in passing that the way “generation” is used when it comes to immigration is different from how we use it in other contexts. Evidence from a literature search and population surveys suggest that we often mean ethnicity, but in the end we need more precise approaches if we want to better understand society.

* obviously I refer to immigrant factory workers, not all factory workers

Borrelli, Lisa Marie, and Didier Ruedin. 2024. ‘Towards a Precise and Reflexive Use of Migration-Related Terminology in Quantitative Research: Criticism and Suggestions’. Comparative Migration Studies. 12(10). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40878-024-00369-0 (open access)

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I’m a second-generation mother, too!

I’m excited to announce a new publication by Lisa Borrelli and myself, out now in Comparative Migration Studies. We challenge our peers to be more careful precise with how we describe immigrants and their descendants, criticizing in particular the terms ‘second generation’ and ‘migration background’.

The article has been in the works for years, and just the peer review took almost two years, but the argument hasn’t ceased to be relevant (though the text has become more sober and organized, engages more explicitly with existing literature, and has gained an analysis of how key terms are used in contemporary migration research). We argue that the shortcuts we use to describe immigrants and their descendants can obfuscate what is really going on, and with that prevent us finding solutions where there are real problems.

Borrelli, Lisa Marie, and Didier Ruedin. 2024. ‘Towards a Precise and Reflexive Use of Migration-Related Terminology in Quantitative Research: Criticism and Suggestions’. Comparative Migration Studies 12 (10). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-024-00369-0.