Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), San Diego, California, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, Florida, 1991-2006

Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) wasdesigned to study the adaptation process of the immigrant secondgeneration which is defined broadly as United States-born childrenwith at least one foreign-born parent or children born abroad butbrought at an early age to the United States. The original survey wasconducted with large samples of second-generation immigrant childrenattending the 8th and 9th grades in public and private schools in themetropolitan areas of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale in Florida and San Diego,California. Conducted in 1992, the first survey had the purpose ofascertaining baseline information on immigrant families, children'sdemographic characteristics, language use, self-identities, andacademic attainment. The total sample size was 5,262. Respondents camefrom 77 different nationalities, although the sample reflects the mostsizable immigrant nationalities in each area. Three years later,corresponding to the time in which respondents were about to graduatefrom high school, the first follow-up survey was conducted. Itspurpose was to examine the evolution of key adaptation outcomesincluding language knowledge and preference, ethnic identity,self-esteem, and academic attainment over the adolescent years. Thesurvey also sought to establish the proportion of second-generationyouths who dropped out of school before graduation. This follow-upsurvey retrieved 4,288 respondents or 81.5 percent of the originalsample. Together with this follow-up survey, a parental survey wasconducted. The purpose of this interview was to establish directlycharacteristics of immigrant parents and families and their outlooksfor the future including aspirations and plans for the children. Since many immigrant parents did not understand English, this questionnaire was translated and administered in six different foreign languages. Intotal, 2,442 parents or 46 percent of the original student sample wereinterviewed. During 2001-2003, or a decade after the original survey,a final follow-up was conducted. The sample now averaged 24 years ofage and, hence, patterns of adaptation in early adulthood could bereadily assessed. The original and follow-up surveys were conductedmostly in schools attended by respondents, greatly facilitating accessto them. Most respondents had already left school by the time of thesecond follow-up so they had to be contacted individually in theirplace of work or residence. Respondents were located not only in theSan Diego and Miami areas, but also in more than 30 different states,with some surveys returned from military bases overseas. Mailedquestionnaires were the principal source of completed data in thisthird survey. In total, CILS-III retrieved complete or partialinformation on 3,613 respondents representing 68.9 percent of theoriginal sample and 84.3 percent of the first follow-up.Relevantadaptation outcomes measured in this survey include educationalattainment, employment and occupational status, income, civil statusand ethnicity of spouses/partners, political attitudes andparticipation, ethnic and racial identities, delinquency andincarceration, attitudes and levels of identification with Americansociety, and plans for the future.