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Extensive survey to look at Asian Americans

Xinhua, June 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

An expanded study of the experiences and attitudes of Asian Americans is expected to be the most extensive look to date at the fastest-growing racial group in the United States.

Taeku Lee, a political scientist and professor of law at University of California, Berkeley, is part of a team leading the research, which will be conducted this year and published in summer 2017 with more than half million dollars funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

The study will expand upon the National Asian American Survey (NAAS), which was first conducted in 2008 and repeated in 2012, according to a news release from UC Berkeley on Wednesday.

The NAAS is a nonpartisan effort to poll Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and is the only nationally representative, academic survey of this population.

"Arguably the nation's most dynamic and diverse population, the views and experiences of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) remain largely relegated to the shadows," said Lee.

"With data from this quadrennial project, the 2016 NAAS promises to shed critical light on the social, economic and political life and civic engagement of AAPIs."

The project aims to provide data for questions about the immigrant experience, attitudes on economic inequality and race-relations, and civic and political engagement.

Between 2000 and 2010, the Asian American population in the United States grew by 46 percent, compared to a 10 percent growth rate for the overall population.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders continue to exhibit the highest population growth rates, fueled by immigration, and number more than 20 million residents, or more than 6 percent of the population.

As voters, Asian Americans have been the fastest-growing electorate over the past five U.S. presidential elections, increasing from 1.7 million voters in 1996 to 3.9 million by 2012.

By 2065, demographers estimate that Asian Americans will comprise about 14 percent of the U.S. population.

Participants in the study will be asked about personal experiences and attitudes related to immigration to the United States, inter- and intra-group relations and attitudes, civic and political involvement, party affiliation, voting behavior, health and financial status, racial and ethnic identification, discrimination, stereotypes, beliefs about racial and class-based inequality and affirmative action.

The results, said principal investigator Karthick Ramakrishnan, associate dean of public policy and a professor of political science at UC Riverside, will enable comparisons of Asian Americans with three more thoroughly studied groups: African Americans, Latinos and non-Hispanic whites.

By telephone calls in at least 11 languages, the team will survey some 3,600 individuals representing the six largest U.S. Asian ethnic groups, who account for more than 80 percent of Asian American adults: Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese. Endit