2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Follow-up Study of Educational and Professional Careers of Overseas and Returnee Children
| Project/Area Number |
14510220
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
社会学(含社会福祉関係)
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| Research Institution | Seijo University |
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Principal Investigator |
MINAMI Yasusuke Seijo University, Faculty of Arts and Literature, Professor, 文芸学部, 教授 (10266207)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2004
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| Keywords | overseas and returnee children / trans-cultural human formation / educational and professional career / social identity / research ethics / language competence / work ethics / life history |
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| Research Abstract |
A follow-up study of overseas and returnee families who sent their children to a Japanese supplementary school in the U.S. in 1990-91 was conducted. As for the educational careers, most children got enrolled in Japanese prestigious universities either because of their strong command of English or through special admittance procedures for returnee students. On the other hand, their job careers vary to a great extent. While some ex-returnees work for foreign-owned corporations or are engaged in international business, others have become "ordinary" Japanese company employees or housewives.
Their views of overseas experiences also vary from person to person. Some see their overseas experiences as a crucial part of their identity and life-planning while others do not take much of them. In any case, however, English competence acquired overseas becomes salient when they make important lifecourse decisions. As for the question "whether they have become 'hard-working' due to overseas experiences, the results of a questionnaire survey are found negative.
In analyzing research data, the issue looms large of how to properly evaluate and use the information obtained in the follow-up study. How we can validly and reliably draw observations and insights from the two interviews conducted at least ten years apart? This study has concentrated on what is said in the interview. The segments including the utterance of "I've changed" are selected and analyzed with the methods of discourse analysis and conversation analysis.
The issue of research ethics is also explored. Research reports of the 1990-91 study had been sent to the families. In soliciting research participation, some mothers mentioned the report for the reason of refusal. Some families thought their current life was little affected by overseas experiences and not worth for research interview. These incidents are argued to be having implications for evaluating the generalizability of research findings.
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Research Products
(6 results)
