Analysis »
Possible Research Topics
The interview data supports dozens of potential topics related to how immigration to Canada affects the family. A focused research topic examines one aspect of the general topic from the perspective of a particular group or groups, at particular times in particular settings.
Family-related Aspects of the Immigration Experience
- push and pull factors in the decision to immigrate to Canada
- chain migration, support networks of family, friends, compatriots, community associations, social services
- cross-cultural encounters
- the role of English language in settlement and acculturation
- reconciling pre-immigration expectations and post-immigration experience
- maintenance, intensification or severing of relations with kin in Canada and in the home country
- financial obligations of immigrants
- expectation of return to home country and/or decision to settle permanently in Canada
- formation of new social networks
- barriers and/or opportunities in education and employment
- changes in occupation
- changes in personal/family/ethnic identities
- changes in cultural or religious practices
- transmission of cultural traditions and values to the next generation
- changes in sexual relations and/or attitudes
- changes in process of finding a spouse/getting married
- changes in ceremonies marking rites of passage and death: coming of age, weddings, birthdays, funerals
- changes in relations with spouse or intimate partner
- changes in ideal number or sex of children and/or aspirations for children
- changes in child-rearing practices
- changes in responsibility towards elderly parents, and/or parents' expectations of adult children
- non-heterosexual and/or non-nuclear family forms
- family dissolution and reconstitution
- divisions of labour in the family
- ethnic language retention
- expectations about exogamy or endogamy
- patterns of residence and/or family living arrangements
- relations with other immigrant communities, dominant or minority groups
Possible Units of Comparison
- first and second generation immigrants
- family members before immigration and after
Possible Sub-populations for Focus or Comparison
- women
- men
- children or youth
- the elderly
- refugees
- single or divorced people
- married couples
- members of the working class or middle class/professionals
- members of oppressed castes or the dominant caste
- cultural minorities within a minority immigrant culture