{"id":28877,"date":"2018-04-24T09:48:02","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T14:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2018\/04\/24\/methodology-sub-saharan-african-immigrants-demographic-profile\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:25:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:25:58","slug":"methodology-sub-saharan-african-immigrants-demographic-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2018\/04\/24\/methodology-sub-saharan-african-immigrants-demographic-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"

To provide comparable data across countries, population estimates for countries of residence and countries and territories of birth for sub-Saharan migrants rely on global migrant stock by their origins and destinations as estimated by the United Nations<\/a> (UN) for 2015. Estimates for the number of sub-Saharan immigrants living in each destination country differ slightly from totals provided by destination governments featured in this report because of UN estimation procedures<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Demographic and economic findings, such as education, employment, time in country, sex, age, marital status and household composition, were based on two large-scale household surveys \u2013 the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s 2015 American Community Survey<\/a> (ACS) and Eurostat\u2019s 2015 Labor Force Survey<\/a>, a data compilation of common variables from labor force surveys across European Union countries.<\/p>\n\n

Survey sampling designs, populations of analysis and data access<\/h4>\n\n

Survey countries\u2019 data collection methods vary. For the surveys\u2019 complete sampling and data collection methodologies, see the ACS\u2019s methodology website<\/a> and Eurostat\u2019s Labor Force Survey annual methodological report<\/a>. All surveys are considered nationally representative.<\/p>\n\n

The year 2015 was the common year for migrant population estimates from the UN as well as surveys in the U.S. and European countries. The United States and top European countries of residence for sub-Saharan immigrants (United Kingdom, France, Italy and Portugal) as estimated by the UN, were selected for analysis.<\/p>\n\n

Many sub-Saharan immigrants in the U.S. and selected European countries were born in African countries where the European-surveyed country\u2019s language is also widely spoken. Consequently, it is expected that many sub-Saharan African immigrants surveyed could respond to the surveys. Italy is an exception; in most of the origin countries for sub-Saharan immigrants, Italian is not an official language.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

[14.numoffset=”14″ Respondents living in France\u2019s overseas departments<\/a> were considered part of France, even when these territories were in sub-Saharan Africa (for example, Reunion). One exception is Mayotte, which Eurostat considers a sub-Saharan African territory.]<\/p>\n\n\n

The American Community Survey data were accessed via Integrated Public Use Microdata Series or IPUMS-USA (University of Minnesota)<\/a>. Eurostat\u2019s Labor Force Surveys<\/a> was provided by Eurostat to use microdata for scientific use. Data in both surveys were anonymized to protect the identity of respondents.<\/p>\n\n

Variables used in each survey<\/h4>\n\n

Comparable variables between the U.S. and European countries are reported. The following table lists the variables, universes, variable names and categories.[16. Missing cases in the Eurostat data representing don\u2019t knows or refusals are not reported, but were included in the overall analyses. Very low shares of responses among sub-Saharan immigrants were missing for any particular variable. But, a large share (20%) of the UK-born was missing for the education variable; thus, this estimate in particular should be treated with some caution.]<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To provide comparable data across countries, population estimates for countries of residence and countries and territories of birth for sub-Saharan migrants rely on global migrant stock by their origins and destinations as estimated by the United Nations (UN) for 2015. Estimates for the number of sub-Saharan immigrants living in each destination country differ slightly from 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