Description

Hidden and hard to reach populations often intrigue social science and policy researchers, yet present predictable challenges when it comes to identification and engagement in research. These populations typically include those facing prejudice and stigma, rendering them less willing to identify themselves in public contexts. There have been few empirical attempts to combine demographic forecasting techniques, ‘big data’ and qualitative methods to address the above problem. In this project, we demonstrate that the combination of these methods can present a new avenue through which we can identify and engage these populations. We focus on the Hungarian Roma population of Toronto as our case study, as the growing literature on these recent refugees is still devoid of population level empirical evidence when it comes to their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Without this, we lack a basic understanding when it comes to the socioeconomic barriers the recent Hungarian Roma refugees may face in their new homeland. Our results have the potential to aid in the design of appropriate public policy interventions.

Boróka Bó is a PhD candidate in the Department Sociology and a PhD candidate in the Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds fellowship positions at the National Science Foundation, Soros Foundation and at the United States Agency for International Development. Her research interests broadly encompass areas of stratification, gender, migration and demography. She has conducted research on internalizing prejudices, time poverty and health among the Roma population, intergenerational support exchanges between migrant children and aged parents in Romania, conceptualizing socioeconomic rights in South Africa, and exploring trajectories of resilience among ‘aged-out’ foster youth in the United States. She has presented and published her research on three continents. Her dissertation focuses on the intersection of gender and social mobility in populations where ethnicity is often fluid.