The Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS)

DESCRIPTION: The Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) was designed to study the adaptation process of the immigrant second generation. The immigrant second generation is defined as U.S.-born children with at least one foreign-born parent or children born abroad but brought at an early age to the United States . The sample includes second-generation children attending public and private schools in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and San Diego , California . The immigrant groups most largely represented include Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and West Indians in South Florida and Mexicans, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians in California . 

The initial interview was conducted in 1992, when the children were in 8th and 9th grades. This survey gathered baseline information on immigrant families as well as children's demographic characteristics, language use, self-identities, and academic attainment. The total sample size was 5,262. In 1995, a follow-up survey was conducted to examine the evolution of key adaptation outcomes - including language knowledge and preferences; ethnic identity; self-esteem; and academic attainment - over the adolescent years.  The survey also sought to establish the proportion of second-generation youths who dropped out of school before graduation.  This follow-up survey retrieved 4,288 respondents or 81.5 percent of the original sample. These surveys were mostly conducted via self-administration in schools.

In 1995, a random sample of parents was also interviewed. The purpose of this interview was to establish characteristics of immigrant parents and families and their outlooks for the future - including aspirations and plans for the children.  In total, 2,442 parents or 46 percent of the original student sample were interviewed. These interviews were conducted face-to-face and were often administered in other languages.

A second follow-up interview with the children was just completed. The purpose of this interview was to investigate key factual outcomes of the second generation adaptation process, including education, employment and occupational status, income, marital status and ethnicity of spouse, delinquency and incarceration, civic and political participation, and ethnic and racial identities. This follow-up survey succeeded in tracing and retrieving information from 3,564 respondents, representing 68 percent of the original sample and 83 percent of the first follow-up. The average age of the respondents was 24.

CODEBOOKS: The codebook for the complete data file (that includes all three surveys) is available on the local area network (T:\Public\Data\CILS). The codebooks do not include frequencies. The three questionnaires are also available on the local area network, and may be more useful for identifying and understanding the questions that were asked. The documents are also available on the CILS website.

DATA: The current data file includes the first two children interviews and the parent interview. The second follow-up data have not yet been released. Data are available in SPSS and STATA format.

WEBLINKS: Additional information about the study is available at the CILS website.

UPCOMING RELEASES: The second follow-up interview - date unknown.