Definitions
Immigration vs. Emigration vs. Migration
Immigration is the act of coming to live in another country from one’s previous country. An immigrant is someone coming to a new country.
Emigration is the act of settling in a new country after having left another country. An emigrant is someone leaving their country.
Migration is the act of movement from one home to a new place of residence. This can be within a country, such as moving to a different state, or can be moving from one country to another
Access to Excel software
Some statistical sources offer download options for data in Excel format. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students, faculty, and staff can download a free copy of Microsoft Office, which includes Word and Excel, using the link and instructions at https://webstore.illinois.edu/shop/product.aspx?zpid=2816
Database searching
When searching databases like Academic Search Ultimate, it is important to think of keywords that can help you locate articles about your topic.
Using OR in the search tells the database that you are looking for articles on a particular subject that might use different terms. For example, using “Immigration” OR “Immigrant” will result in articles with either one of those terms or both of those terms being present in the title, abstract, or keywords in the database.
Using AND in a search tells the database that you are looking for articles that include two or more terms. For example if you are searching for articles about Ukrainian immigrants you would search for “Immigrant” OR “Immigration” AND “Ukrainian” OR “Ukraine.” For best results, you will want to put two or more topics into different search bars, as shown below.
- Pew Research Center: Immigration and MigrationThe Pew Research Center offers current information about immigration, primarily focused on the U.S., but includes statistics and polls from across the world as well. Pew offers opinion polls and statistics relating to immigration and migration, which can be found in either stand-alone reports or in a Quick Read that provide readers with a brief review of the issues. Using the search box on Pew’s website will show results for other topics. An options bar on the lower right side can be used to narrow results by date and other filters.
- The Migration Policy Institute Interactive Immigration and Emigration MapThis interactive map from the Migration Policy Institute provides users with immigration and emigration numbers from around the globe, reflecting mid-2020 numbers. Users can select a country from the selection box below the map and view the numbers for immigration to, or emigration from, different countries for the selected country.
- The UN: International MigrationThe Population Division of the UN provides data, reports, and other publications about immigration around the globe. Data can be found in either downloadable Excel spreadsheets or in graphs and tables. The most recent data in the form of Excel spreadsheets are from 2020, while charts are from 2019. Researchers can also find policy briefs and other reports on the website.
- StatistaWhile Statista mostly focuses on business, it does include reports and statistics on immigration and migration, which can include data about different migrant communities within a selected nation. Data on Statista can range in date, but most has been collected within the last five years. Statista can provide information on different topics of interest relating to immigration such as cause, migrant route data, and public opinion.
- Homeland Security: Yearbook of Immigration StatisticsThis yearly immigration report from Homeland Security provides a breakdown of people that went through a form of legal immigration, such as people who were granted a green card, asylum, or are naturalized. The yearbook also includes information about people detained and/or deported back to country of origin if not legally in the US. The yearbook is broken into sections, available as a downloadable Excel file, of different categories relating to race, gender, and country of origin.