Megan Knowles and Dr. J. Matthew Shumway, Ruth Kerry, Geography Department

In Human Geography minimal research has been done regarding the immigration and spatial distribution of Korean-Americans. Historically there has been a detectable relationship between the degree of spatial concentration of a specific population and their degree of social assimilation. Few studies have been conducted regarding Korean-Americans as a separate ethnic group, and these studies most often focus on economic, health, and cultural aspects of the community and tend to be more local in scale.

Although there is a need for empirical research to be done in a geographic context—a study that would help map out not only the attributes of the population but their location and distribution—it soon became obvious why this topic has not already been explored. Finding credible data on Korean-Americans has proved to be the most challenging aspect of this project. Because our study focuses on comparing the current population distribution to patterns visible in previous decades it was necessary to find data from multiple decades that could be compared for the same geographic locations. One of the challenges is rooted in the fact that census data regarding race was not specific enough to be of use until 1980. This gave us a smaller time-frame than anticipated in which to compare the immigration and settlement trends of the Korean-American population. Another challenge lies in the fact that geographic boundaries such as census tract boundaries or county boundaries change over time.

Another challenge has been not only finding this data, but linking it to the proper geographic boundaries. Because the data files are so large, it has been difficult to process and join these files using GIS software. Although this project is still ongoing, preliminary maps and analysis show that population clusters of Korean-Americans are likely to appear in certain areas such as clusters on the west coast, the Chicago area, and in New York. Although we will be taking a look at the entire United States, we will be taking a closer look at some individual states such as California and Texas.

Overall, this has been an invaluable experience for me to work one-on-one with experienced professors. My knowledge of demographics and geographic statistics has increased as the project has progressed. I plan to continue researching this topic in the coming months.