Ethnic and Immigration Categories in "Asian" Focus Groups

• In Event: 50260 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 10: Rethinking “Asian American”: Identity, Perception, and Intra-Group Difference

Abstract

Adopting conversation analytic and membership categorization analytic methods, this paper examines focus group participants' use of ethnic, country of origin, and immigration categories in focus group discussions on the topic of Asians and affirmative action in college admissions. In my analysis, I aim to:1) describe the practices adopted by participants to categorize self or another using such categories; 2) identify the actions accomplished through such uses of categories, paying specific attention to how participants orient to the omni-relevant MCD of “research setting” through such practices; 3) explore knowledge and expectations associated with Asian identities and affirmative action in college admissions that are oriented to by participants in accomplishing actions through their use of ethnic, country of origin, and immigration categories. Through such an in-depth three-fold analysis grounded in empirical observations, this paper will contribute to the conversation analytic studies of focus group interactions as well as contribute to the existing literature on Asian Americans and affirmative action.

Author

• Tianhao Zhang, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill