Full Citation

Title: Mass Migration: Examining Factors that Contribute to an Individual’s Propensity to Migrate

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2017

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: During the early decades of the twentieth century, a complex social trend developed in America. Sometimes referred to as the “Great Migration,” this time period saw more than six million African Americans leave their homes in the South and migrate to cities in the North and the West of the United States. While there were many reasons for African Americans leaving the South (e.g., searching for higher wages and employment rates, searching for greater tolerance), not all African Americans chose to leave their homes. This project intends to explore different variables that influenced individuals’ propensity to migrate. What factors played the greatest role in determining if an individual left his home in the South to migrate to the North or the West? For example, was the migrant’s home community or city size a significant contributor, or did other variables – such as the individual’s level of education and literacy status – play a more prominent role? At first glance, this research question may seem to be of little more importance than historical relevance. However, mass migration should not be something we only think of in our history textbooks, and it is certainly not limited to America – it is an intrinsic part of human nature across all cultures. As the author Jim Rohn once said, “If you do not like where you are, change it. You are not a tree.” The mass migration of groups of people has occurred for centuries and will continue to foster the globalization of culture, politics, and economics for years to come. Thus, by examining factors that contribute to an individual’s propensity to migrate through the lens of the Great Migration, this project intends to reveal prevalent truths that will allow policymakers and economists to better understand the phenomenon of mass migration. The first half of this project features a quantitative focus on the numbers themselves. Econometric analysis is used to test hypotheses on different variables in order to better understand individuals’ migration tendencies. However, the numbers alone can only tell part of the story. The second half of this project has a qualitative focus on personal accounts of persons who participated in the “Great Migration” in the early twentieth century. Interviews with two reverse migrants – individuals who left the South during the Great Migration and have since returned to the South – were conducted to see how the quantitative findings line up with qualitative research.

Url: https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=utk_haslamschol

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Lype, Bryson, A

Publisher: University of Tennessee Honors Program

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration

Countries: United States