A Three-generation Study of Mexican-AmericansA Three-generation Study of Mexican-AmericansKyriakos S. MarkidesN/AStudyUniverse_9413NIA5-R01-AG-01573 Despite a dramatic increase in attention over the last decade to the
special needs of the elderly, there has been little research
on minority aged, including Mexican Americans, now the
second largest and rapidly growing ethnic group in the
United States. A major objective of the study is to
describe the place of older Mexican Americans in the
extended family, by obtaining information on relations
between generations, frequency of contact, amount of
intergenerational social support, strength of affectual
ties, etc. A second objective of the study is to describe
generational changes in various attitudes and behaviors
(e.g., occupational achievement, marital relations, sex
roles, fertiIity, religious affiliation, health care) taking
place among Mexican Americans.San Antonio, TexasCITYGeog_9413CITYParticipation in last election Religious services attendance Religious organization membership Degree of religiosity, self-assessed Attitude towards intergenerational home sharing Health status, self-assessed Marital satisfactionPolitical participationPolPartReligious PracticeChAttChMembRelig_SelfIntergenerational relationsHomeShareRespondent's HealthHealth_SelfMarital RelationsMarSatMexican Americans between the ages of 65 and 80 who had at least one child and one ever-married grandchild (at least 18 years old) in the same family lineCITYSan Antonio, TexasMarkidesGeog_9413Sampling_9413Sample representativeness was tested in a parallel, smaller, study that compared older Mexican Americans who were members of three-generation families with other Mexican-American elderly in the San Antonio area on a number of demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Comparisons on several variables of interest to gerontologists revealed no significant differences between elderly members and nonmembers of three-generation families: for example, they are similar in frequency of church attendance, visitation with relatives, self-ratings of health, happiness, and subjective age. These findings, presented at the International Congress of Gerontology, July 14, 1981, in Hamburg, West Germany, suggest that the present study’s generalizability may be extended to the elderly Mexican-American population in the San Antonio area.
These findings were also published in “The Journal of Marriage and the Family” (“Sample Representativeness in a Three-generation Study of Mexican Americans”, vol. 45, no. 4, p. 911, November, 1983)Multistage area probability sampling was used to identify a group of some 400 Mexican Americans between the ages of 65 and 80 who had at least one child and one ever-married grandchild in the same familiy line (at least 18 years old) living in the metropolitan area. Never-married mambers of the youngest generation were excluded because marital relations are a key aspect of the study.
After excluding census tracts with less than 15% Spanish-surname or Spanish-language population in 1970, 45 of the 113 remaining tracts were selected using probabilities proportional to size, with the number of Mexican Americans aged 65 to 80 in each tract being the measure of size.
Subsequently, city blocks in the selected tracts were sampled with probabilities inversely proportional to size.
Bilingual interviewers attempted to identify all Mexican Americans aged 65-80 in the selected blocks who were members of three-generation families as defined above.
Ethnicity was determined by asking respondents whether they considered themselves “Mexican American” or of “Mexican descent or origin”.
A brief interview conducted in Spanish or English as required, elicited information about the respondent and about younger family members living in the city, so that they could be contacted for interview. A total of 375 three-generation triads were
interviewed, for a total of 1,125 respondents. The sample
was disproportionately female (approximately two-thirds) due
to greater longevity at the older generation level and due to
earlier marriage and childbearing at at all three levels.
In addition, the predominance of female lineages is related
to the greater propensity of younger women to remain close to
the parental household. The median age of the older generation
was 74, while it was 49 for the middle and 26 for the younger generation.
There was very little overlap in age between adjacent generations.
Like Mexican-Americans elsewhere, this population is overrepresented
in the lower working classes and underrepresented in the middle and
upper-middle classes.
19811982Face-to-face interviewsRespondents were interviewed in their homesDid you vote in the last presidential election?Voto Usted en la ultima election presidencial?CodeScheme_Q9PolPartHow often do you attend religious services?Que tan seguido atiende usted servicios religiosos?CodeScheme_Q12ChAttDo you belong to any religious or church organization?Pertenece Usted a alguna organizacion religiosa o de la iglesia?CodeScheme_Q9ChMembPerson recordYesSiNoNoOnce a week (or more often)Una vez por semana (o mas seguido)Two or three times a monthDos o tres veces al mesOnce a monthUna vez al mesOnce every two-three monthsUna vez cada dos o tres mesesOnce or twice a yearUna o dos veces al anoNever or almost neverNunca o casi nuncaNAINAP., No religious preferenceC1_Q91C2_Q92C1_Q121C2_Q122C3_Q123C4_Q124C5_Q125C6_Q126C_NA8C_INAP_RELIGORG9VOTEPRESVOTEPRESStudyUniverse_9413PolPartQ9CodeScheme_Q9RELIGATTRELIGATTStudyUniverse_9413ChAttQ12CodeScheme_Q12CodeScheme_NARELIGORGRELIGORGStudyUniverse_9413ChMembQ13CodeScheme_Q9CodeScheme_NACodeScheme_INAP_RELIGORGLogicalProduct_9413LogicalRecord_9413PhysicalStructure_9413R1ASCII1VOTEPRES2461RELIGATT2521RELIGORG2531RecordLayout_9413http://www.markides.org11251125MarkidesNational Institute on Aging.NIAKyriakosS.MarkidesUniversity of Texas Health Science CenterSan AntonioTexasUSAAssistant Professor. Start Date: 1977-01UofTexas_SA1979-11-01MarkidesStudy Proposal1980-06-01NIAStudy Funding1980-07-01MarkidesDefining concepts1980-07-25MarkidesDesigning instrument (questionnaire)1980-09-01MarkidesQuestionnaire translation1980-10-151981-04-01MarkidesSampling19811982MarkidesData collection1983MarkidesData production