A methodological critique of studies on multicultural policies and sociocultural integration

Abstract

A contentious debate over migration in Europe has emerged in recent years, with a significant amount of attention focusing on the perceived lack of immigrant integration into the receiving host countries’ societies. This thesis will look at the academic debate concerning socio-cultural integration [SCI] and its relationship with policies on cultural recognition, also called multiculturalism policies [MCP]. Within a group of cross national, comparative studies purporting to measure the same socio-cultural integration indicators, certain studies exist with directly contrasting and contradicting results. The inconsistent results are partially due to inconsistently defined independent and dependent variables, but this methodological inconsistency is not immediately clear to an observer, such a policymaker, who might look through the studies in an attempt to discover which localities and policies produce the most conducive environments to encouraging immigrant integration. In addition, a large number of external and internal factors have also been demonstrated to have an effect on socio-cultural integration, thus making any causal links between multicultural policies and socio-cultural integration difficult to ascertain. For this reason, this thesis will critically examine the aforementioned inconsistencies in the existing research agenda and prescribe recommendations to correct and streamline the agenda in the concluding chapter.