Dimensions of Ethnic Assimilation: An Empirical Appraisal of Gordon's Typology

Authors

J. Allen Williams Jr., University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Suzanne T. Ortega, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

December 1990

Comments

Published in Social Science Quarterly, Volume 71, Number 4, December 1990. Copyright © 1990 by the University of Texas Press.

Abstract

Researchers often begin by acknowledging that ethnic assimilation is multidimensional, but rarely examine more than one type of assimilation. As a result, studies have used quite disparate indicators of assimilation and have yielded contradictory results. The authors of this study empirically test Milton Gordon’s classic statement on the seven types of assimilation. Results of factor analysis indicate that Gordon’s seven dimensions can be reduced to three- structural, cultural, and receptional.