Who Are We? Iranian-American Community Survey 2005

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Who Are We? Iranian-American Community Survey
2005

• Farzan Parsinejad, Ph.D.
• Iranian Studies Group at MIT
• http//web.mit.edu/isg/
• Mehregan 3rd Annual Seminar
• Reflections of Iranian Identity Through Time

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What is ISG?

• Iranian Studies Group (ISG) at MIT
• A non-partisan, non-profit, academic
  organization with the goal of promoting Iranian
  civil society through conducting research on
  issues related to the Iranian society in Iran and
  abroad
• ISG Activities
• ISG Research Projects
• Iran Analysis Quarterly Journal
• ISG Lecture Series
• ISG aims
• to bridge the gap between research, public
  knowledge, and policy-making
• to create a network of academics, community
  leaders and interested individuals in Iran, the
  U.S., and other parts of the world

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Organization

• Board of Directors
• Overseeing activities and general guidelines
• 5 academics and 2 business/community leaders
• 
  Executive Board
• In charge of managing research strategy and
  tactics
• Currently 1 M.S., 2 Doctoral
  Students, 3 Ph.D.s
• Research Associates
• Conducting research projects under supervision of
  executives
• Currently 10 Ph.D. Candidates, Academics and
  Professionals

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Motivations of Survey

• Census data not sufficient in understanding the
  characteristics, needs and concerns of
  individuals in the Iranian American community.
• Assess the perception of individuals of Iranian
  ancestry of the Iranian American community and
  potential common values, needs and concerns.
• The results of the survey can provide community
  leaders with information on how better serve the
  community

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Survey Basics

• Online between January-March 2005
• 3880 Valid Responses
• 62.4 male respondents, 37.6 female respondents
• Around 60 Naturalized U.S. Citizens (first
  generation IA), 12 U.S.-born, 12 permanent
  residents, 8 students , and the rest asylees,
  skilled workers, etc.
• Average age of respondents between 35-49
• Average education of respondents, B.S. and then
  M.S. degree

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Immigration Period
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Ethnicity
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Religion Diversity
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Religion
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Family Structure

• If not single, more than 80 are married which
  is higher compared to the Nation.
• 3 live with partner which is less than Nation
• 15 are divorced which is less than the Nation
  
• If divorced, the custody of children in 75 of
  the cases are by women

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Family Structure Spouse's Background
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Language Spoken at Home
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How Often Have Your Children Visited Iran?
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Important Aspects of Iranian Culture in Children
Education
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Most Appealing Aspects of the Culture

• Cuisine
• Family values
• Language, Traditions and Humor
• Festivities, Traditional music, Popular music and
  Movies
• Religion and Mysticism

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Assimilation Difficulty in Adjusting to Live in
US
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Frequency of Interaction with Iranians
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Frequency of Socializing with Non-Iranians
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Discrimination!!
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Important Factors in Choosing Where to Live
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Sources of News About Iran
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Investment in Iran
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Impediments to Our Unity
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Finally, Who Are We?
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Summary

• The ISG Iranian-American Survey 2005 provides
  abundant information on the different aspects of
  the Iranian-American community and will be
  repeated every year with various foci.
• The information presented here is only a selected
  overview of the survey results.
• Main results are to come More on cross
  correlations Analysis

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Acknowledgement

• Mehregan Foundation
• Mrs. Frances Nedjat Haiem
• Mr. Bruce Bahmani
• Ms. Noosheen Hashemi
• Dr. Akbar Mahdi
• Mr. Darr Hashempour
• Dr. Mohammad Ala
• Dr. Mohammad Navab
• Ms. Dokhi Fassihian
• Mr. Hossein Hosseini
• Mr. Behrouz Vakili
• Mr. Shahriar Afshar
• Dr. David Rahni
• Mr. Alireza Taghi

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Demographic
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Demographic
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Demographic
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