| I had two goals in mind when writing this book, neither of which took precedence over the other. One was to learn more about ethnic groups based on an extensive analysis of quantitative data. This goal derrived from my predilection for crunching numbers and, more important, from what I have long observed about the field of ethnic relations. While volumes and volumes have been written about the topic, surprisingly enough, empirical voids still exist, especially when studying groups other than blacks. Data are sporadic, inconsistent in format and source, and limited in scope. This makes directly comparing ethnic groups difficult, sometimes impossible, and that in turn, seriously interferes with attempts to explain ethnic relations. I hope, therefore, that this volume will help to fill the void in knowledge. |
| My second goal was to examine contrasting ethnic groups from a particular viewpoint: the infrastructure. By adhering to this viewpoint, I do not mean to imply that prejudice and discrimination are unimportant. As an ethnic minority myself, personal experience leads me to believe that nothing could be further from the truth; yet at the same time, I do not believe that spiteful people determine the course of ethnic history, at least not in the long run. To explain that, we must look at the structural features of the group and of the society in which the group exists. |
| In analyzing ethnic infrastructures, I used the simplist statistics that answered the theoretical question being posed. Means and percentage tables sometimes sufficed; in other instances, however, "simple" statistics were not sufficient, and so I used more complex ones. Unfortunately, describing the complexity sometimes interfered with the argument's flow, and, to avoid that, I placed some material in appendices. I hope the nonspecialist will find the data interesting and useful, while the specialist, who might wish to know more about the details of the procedures, will have access to them. |
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