Exam Review: Methodology, Birth Rates, and International Migration

Social Science and Research Methodology Concepts

  • Social Desirability Bias:

    • The tendency for people to report good behavior and hide bad behavior in surveys so they look good to others.

  • Correlation:

    • Describes when two things move or change at the same time.

    • Does not mean that one thing causes the other.

  • Omitted Variable:

    • Happens when a study misses a hidden third factor that actually causes changes in both observed things, making them look falsely connected.

    • Temperature and Accident Example: Hot weather is the missing factor when ice cream sales and car accidents rise together, because heat independently causes more ice cream buying and more outdoor driving.

    • Skincare Example: If a skin product seems to fix a pimple overnight, doing a facial massage at the same time might be the missing hidden cause of the improvement.

  • Counterfactual:

    • Asking what would have happened if a specific action or treatment was never applied.

    • Important for proving real cause and effect.

    • Skincare Example: To know if a product cured a pimple, you must ask if it would have cleared up on its own overnight without any product.

  • Policies Without Teeth (Weak Laws):

    • Laws made to fix social problems that fail because the punishments for breaking them are tiny or missing.

Displaced Populations and Migration Theories

  • Attitudes Toward Immigrant Labor in Japan:

    • Job Factors: Japanese women in insecure, non-professional jobs have the most negative views toward foreign workers.

    • Concerns: These workers fear immigrants will take their jobs, even though economic data shows this is not true.

  • Environmental Relocation in the United States:

    • Government Action: The US government spent public money to move an entire community in Louisiana due to rising sea levels and shoreline erosion.

  • Legal Status of Climate-Displaced Persons:

    • International Law: The term "climate refugees" has no official legal recognition.

    • Consequences: People forced to move by climate change do not get official refugee rights, such as legal work permits.

  • Main Theories of Migration:

    • Neoclassical Economic Theory: Views migration as individuals moving to places with higher wages and better jobs to earn more money.

    • New Economics of Labor Migration: Views migration as a choice made by whole families to share money and lower economic risks together.

South Korean Demographics and Social Welfare Structure

  • South Korean Foreign Caregiver Pilot Program:

    • Date and Place: Started in September 2024 in Seoul.

    • Program Details: Hired trained caregivers from the Philippines to help households with childcare and housework.

    • Goals: Aimed to help raise low birth rates and reduce stress for working parents, especially new mothers.

  • Demographic Thresholds:

    • If birth rates fall below a critical number, a nation's economy, social safety nets, and population face severe danger.

  • Gender Inequality in South Korea:

    • Media vs. Reality: Women write 90% of South Korean TV dramas and work as top directors and actors, but this cultural presence has not led to real socioeconomic equality.

    • Weak Anti-Discrimination Laws: Gender inequality remains high because laws against discrimination lack strict penalties or enforcement.

    • Old Welfare System:

      • The national welfare system relies on a traditional model centered on a male breadwinner.

      • Single older women who never married a male earner get very little state welfare support, leaving many in severe poverty.


Questions and Answers:

  • Question: What is the tendency to overreport good behavior and underreport bad behavior in a survey called?

Answer: Social desirability bias.


  • Question: Which women in Japan show the most negative attitudes toward immigrant labor?

Answer: Women in insecure, non-professional jobs (because they fear their jobs are being taken).


  • Question: The US federal government spent funds to relocate a community threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion in which state?

Answer: Louisiana.

  • Question: What is it called when two things move together?

Answer: Correlation.


  • Question: South Korea launched a pilot program in September 2024 hiring trained caregivers from the Philippines to address what, and ease pressure on whom?

Answer: Low birth rates and working parents.


  • Question: Provide a specific example of political or policy failure regarding South Korea's persistence with gender inequality.

Answer: Anti-discrimination policies lack strict penalties ('have no teeth'), and the welfare system is built around a male breadwinner model, leaving single elderly women without support.


  • Question: In the example where hot weather drives both ice cream sales and car accidents, what is the heat factor called?

Answer: Omitted variable.


  • Question: What does it mean in practice for people displaced by climate change that 'climate refugees' are not recognized under international law?

Answer: They are excluded from refugee benefits, such as official work authorization.


  • Question: What is the term for what would have happened without the treatment or action?

Answer: Counterfactual.


  • Question: What are the two main theories of migration?

Answer: Neoclassical economic theory and New Economics of Labor Migration.