Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Effects of Mexican Immigration on Mexican American Ethnicity

本研究将调查两个中等规模社区（加利福尼亚州的圣玛丽亚和堪萨斯州的花园城）的墨西哥裔美国人种族。这些地点将种族的社会学研究扩展到通常的主要大都市之外。在两个社区进行的120次访谈将涉及种族认同的强度以及老居民与新移民之间的关系等问题。对两个社区的墨西哥裔美国人民权组织进行组织比较，也将有助于我们了解种族是如何发展和表达的。一个主要的研究问题集中在两个社区的不同移民模式（圣玛丽亚的持续移民与花园城市的不同阶段移民）如何影响种族认同和团结。

This research would investigate Mexican American ethnicity in two mid-size communities (Santa Maria, California and Garden City, Kansas). These locations extend sociological research on ethnicity beyond the usual major metropolitan areas. 120 interviews in the two communities will address questions of the strength of ethnic identification and the relationships between established residents and new immigrants. An organizational comparison of Mexican American civil rights groups in the two communities will also help us understand how ethnicity develops and is expressed. A principal research question focuses on how the different patterns of immigration in the two communities (continuous immigration in Santa Maria versus distinct phases in Garden City) have affected ethnic identification and solidarity.