qualitative research examples tagalog

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• J Child Adolesc Trauma
• v.14(2); 2021 Jun

Filipino Children and Adolescents’ Stories of Sexual Abuse: Narrative Types and Consequences

Nora maria elena t. osmeña.

1 Psychology Department, Negros Oriental State University, Dumaguete City, Philippines

Dan Jerome S. Barrera

2 College of Criminal Justice Education, Negros Oriental State University, Dumaguete City, Philippines

There is a paucity of qualitative research on children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of their sexual abuse experiences. This paper aims to describe the narrative types and consequences of sexual abuse stories among ten female Filipino children and adolescents. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using dialogical narrative analysis. Results show that three narrative types appear in the stories of the survivors. These are the tragic resistance narrative, rescued slave narrative, and heroic saga narrative, and each of these narratives has idiosyncratic effects on the identities, affiliations, disclosure, and adjustment processes of the participants. The results show how symbolic cultural structures can have far-reaching consequences on sexually abused children and adolescents.

Introduction

Sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence remains a prevalent social problem. A worldwide estimate shows that 13% of girls and 6% of boys experience sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence (Barth et al. 2013 ). As a result, they experience debilitating adverse mental, psychological, physical, and health effects (Amado et al. 2015 ; Hillberg et al. 2011 ; Maniglio 2009 ; Norman et al. 2012 ; Teicher and Samson 2016 ). In the Philippines, a national survey shows that the lifetime prevalence of child and youth sexual abuse is 21.5% - 24.7% for boys and 18.2% for girls (CWC and UNICEF 2016 ). These reported abuses are a bit higher than some worldwide estimates, and they even lead to early smoking, sex, and pregnancy, having multiple partners, substance use, and suicide among the victims (Ramiro et al. 2010 ). Despite this information, research on children’s and adolescents’ narratives on sexual abuse in the Philippines gathered through qualitative approaches t is limited (Roche 2017 ). This gap is not surprising because systematic reviews show that only a handful of extant studies have analyzed children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of their sexual abuse experiences (Morrison et al. 2018 ; Watkins-Kagebein et al. 2019 ). The bulk of the literature on children and adolescents’ sexual abuse experiences comes from retrospective accounts of adult survivors (Alaggia et al. 2019 ; Tener and Murphy 2015 ), which may differ from children’s and adolescents’ themselves due to recall bias, participants’ advanced developmental phase, and other factors (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Morrison et al. 2018 ; Watkins-Kagebein et al. 2019 ).

Nevertheless, there has been a recent surge of interest in studying young victims’/survivors’ sexual abuse accounts. These studies documented the emotional experiences of children and adolescents, including their fear, anger, pain, worry, and coping strategies (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; McElvaney et al. 2014 ; San Diego 2011 ; Schönbucher et al. 2012 ); the disclosure processes and their barriers and facilitators (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Jackson et al. 2015 ; Jensen et al. 2005 ; McElvaney et al. 2014 ; Schaeffer et al. 2011 ; Schönbucher et al. 2012 ); and the subjects’ healing journey through therapeutic processes (Capella et al. 2016 ; Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; San Diego 2011 ). Besides the emotional aspects, secondary victimization in the justice system (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Capella et al. 2016 ) also manifested in the reports.

However, what remains underexplored in these studies and adult retrospections are the meso-level factors that affect post-sexual abuse emotions, reactions (e.g., disclosures), coping and adjustment, and identity work. One example at the meso-level is culture (Sanjeevi et al. 2018 ). In their review, Sanjeevi et al. ( 2018 , p. 631) note that studying culture is essential to “provide culturally competent and culturally valid services” to children and adolescents who have experienced sexual abuse. However, this inquiry line is underdeveloped as most culturally-oriented studies have either studied culture as practices (e.g., ways of raising a child, sleeping arrangements, child marriage) or beliefs (e.g., beliefs on what constitutes sexual abuse). A treatment of culture as a system of symbols is absent in child sexual abuse literature, especially in studies of children and adolescents’ accounts of their sexual abuse experiences. In this study, we treat culture as “a structure of symbolic sets” that “provide[s] a nonmaterial structure” of actions by “creating patterned order, lines of consistency in human actions” (Alexander and Smith 1993 , p. 156). Furthermore, a narrative is an example of a symbol. Narratives are culturally available resources and structures (e.g., tragedy, romance, comedy) with which people construct their personal stories (Frank 2010 ). Furthermore, narrative analysis makes these narrative types visible (Wong and Breheny 2018 ).

The narrative approach has not been extensively used in sexual abuse studies. Although few studies employ this methodology (e.g., Capella et al. 2016 ; Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; Harvey et al. 2000 ; Hunter 2010 ), these studies were more thematic. They focused more on the ‘what”s’ of storytelling and neglected the ‘how’s’ (Gubrium and Holstein 2009 ). Thus, there is a need for other narrative approaches like dialogical and structural (Riessman 2008 ). We argue that Arthur Frank’s ( 2010 , 2012 ) socio-narratology and dialogical narrative analysis can fill this void.

Socio-narratology views stories not just as retrospective devices of representing the past but also prospective ones that interpellate people to assume identities, affiliate/disaffiliate from others and do things (Frank 2010 , 2012 ). As Alameddine ( 2009 : 450) notes: “Events matter little, only stories of those events affect us.” This view tends to find support in some narrative psychologists’ (e.g., Bruner 1987 ; Polkinghorne 1988 ) and philosophers’ (Carr 1986 ; MacIntyre 1981 ; Ricoeur 1984 ) stand on the power of stories in people’s lives. As Polkinghorne ( 1988 , p. 145) posited, life/action is the “living narrative expression of a personal and social life. The competence to understand a series of episodes as part of our story informs our own decisions to engage in actions that move us toward a desired ending.” Polkinghorne added that stories and narratives provide us with models for the self, action, and life, and we use these models to plan our actions and assume identities.

This paper aims to describe the narrative types and consequences of sexual abuse stories among ten female Filipino children and adolescents. We argue that cultural symbols in the form of narratives describe phenomena through personal stories, and they also tend to influence emotions and actions. This perspective, we believe, is also applicable to children’s and adolescents’ stories and experiences of sexual abuse. Narrative types can be visible from these stories of sexual abuse, which have material effects on disclosure processes, emotions, coping, identity work, and behavioral and social adjustment of children and adolescents who have had the experience.

Methodology

The researchers sought to capture data by profiling the Filipino children’s and adolescents’ lives before, during, and after experiencing sexual abuse through semi-structured interviews. The participants were contacted and recruited through a temporary government-controlled crisis center in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines, where they were housed. Of the twelve participant interviews, only ten were analyzed because two participants did not answer some questions critical to the analysis.

Table ​ Table1 1 shows the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants. As shown, most of the participants were sexually abused in their adolescence (10–19) by family members with whom they lived at the time of the abuse. At the time of the interview, all of them had studied for at least 3 years when the abuse started.

Socio-demographic charateristics of the participants

Data Gathering Procedures

After having been granted the ethics board approval, consent from the government agency that controlled the center, the caregivers, and the participants was obtained. Contacts with the target participants were developed through the said government agency, which had personal information in the center. The target participants were then informed about the nature of the study and its purpose and were also asked about their willingness to participate. They were briefed on the confidentiality of the information gathered from them and the anonymity of their identity. Those who opted to participate were requested to sign informed consent forms and to indicate their preferred schedule and place of interview, which could be any place conducive.

The study utilized face-to-face semi-structured interviews, which were conducted by the lead author and employing narrative interviewing techniques (Jovchelovitch and Bauer 2000 ). A debriefing to prevent the recurrence of trauma was given to the participant right after every interview, which could last for 30 min to one-and-a-half hours. All audio-recorded interviews were password-secured and were only transcribed and translated by language-proficient staff and verified by the researchers for accuracy and consistency. For ethical reasons, participants’ names and other information were kept anonymous and replaced with pseudonyms.

Dialogical Narrative Analysis

Frank ( 2010 , 2012 ) coupled socio-narratology with his methodological technique – dialogical narrative analysis (DNA). DNA is a heuristic guide in analyzing stories. It is a combination of thematic, structural, and dialogical analyses (Smith 2016 ). DNA “studies the mirroring between what is told in the story – the story’s content – and what happens as a result of telling that story – its effects” (Frank 2010 , pp. 71–72). In other words, DNA is concerned with the content of stories and their effects on selves, affiliations, and actions. Although Frank ( 2010 , 2012 ) intended DNA to be heuristic in nature, there are phases of the analysis that can be implemented (see also Caddick 2016 ; Smith 2016 ). However, these phases are not necessarily linearly followed: even in a later phase, one can always return to the initial ones.

The present analysis started with getting the story phase done by the first researcher. Here, the stories in each interview were identified using Labov and Waletzky’s ( 1967 ) structural model of narratives. Then, the getting to grips with the stories phase was implemented by the two researchers. Indwelling with the data by listening to the audios and reading the transcripts several times was done at this phase. Also, narrative themes, relationships among themes, and the structure of the stories were identified. The opening up analytical dialogue phase followed by asking dialogical questions by the two authors directed towards the narratives identified (Frank 2012 ). This makes DNA unique from other analyses. Dialogical questions include resource questions, affiliation questions, and identity questions. Finally, pulling the analysis together phase was done by choosing among the five forms of DNA, the best way to structure the results. We chose to build a narrative typology as our approach. Narrative types are ‘the most general storyline[s] that can be recognized underlying the plot and tensions of particular stories’ (Frank 1995 : 75). After weeks of analysis, the data revealed three narrative types and their consequences, which are discussed in the next section.

The Narrative Types

This section shows that there are three significant narratives to which the participants of this study subscribe. These narratives are tragic resistance narrative, rescued slave narrative, and heroic saga narrative . The most common among these are the tragic resistance and the rescued slave narratives. The heroic saga narrative serves as a contesting narrative against the dominant ones. We will also show that these narratives interpellate the participants to assume particular identities (selves), connect or disconnect from alliances, and do things for and on them.

Tragic Resistance Narrative

Its structure.

A common narrative emplotted by some of the participants is the tragic resistance narrative. This narrative starts with some favorable situations, followed by a disruption in the form of sexual abuse. Due to fear of negative consequences, the participants subscribing to this narrative tended not to disclose their victimization. Moreover, if they disclosed, they did it covertly with those outside the family. This does not mean, however, that they did not do anything against the offender. They tended to make subtle but covert resistance against the abusers. This narrative has this structure: “Girls live a normal life. It is made horrible when they are raped. However, they could not disclose it because they fear that their resistance might fail as the abuser might retaliate.” This narrative appears to be a derivative of the culturally available rape myths such as “No woman can do much about rape” (Gordon and Riger 1989 ; Plummer 2003 ). Also, fear of retaliation among the sexual abuse victims in the Philippines circulates culturally (Hunt and Gatbonton 2000 ). Previous research also documents fears experienced by children and adolescents due to their abusive experiences (Foster and Hagedorn 2014 ; McElvaney et al. 2014 ; Schönbucher et al. 2012 ).

One example of this kind of narrative is a story told by Mary, who was raped by her father. She said,

That night, he came home very drunk. My brother and I only slept side by side in the sala of our house. Then my father laid down in between my brother and me and started to undress me. I said, “No, Pa,” but he held a knife and said that he would kill me if I refused. So, he succeeded in undressing me and finally raped me. When he inserted his penis into my vagina, it was very painful. It happened when I have not even had my first menstruation yet. When I tried to move, he would threaten me with the knife.

Mary did not continue to resist because of the threat made by her father to kill her if she would fight. She emplotted her experience in a tragic resistance narrative yet did not offer more resistance. Other participants’ stories unfolded through this type of narrative. Ana, for instance, shared this story:

One time when my Mama left, my father and my siblings were left at home. Then he [stepfather] attempted to rape me, but I shouted, and it was on time that my Mama came back. So Mama had the incident blottered. My stepfather was so mad. Eventually, he was put behind bars because my godmother, who was a policewoman, helped us. We went home to Zamboanguita because we were in Bayawan during that time. We did not know that he was temporarily freed but he was able to post bail. He came back and planned to kill us all. He murdered Mama, who was pregnant. I was almost killed too. He almost killed Lolo. If Lolo was not able to kill him, all of us could have been killed. Lolo killed him at that time.

Ana related that she screamed when her stepfather attempted to rape her and her mother reported it to the police. Then, the offender was arrested and detained. However, such resistance was tragic. When the offender was able to post bail, he retaliated and killed her pregnant mother and almost killed her, but her grandfather eventually killed him. This tragic resistance created extreme fear in her as she relayed, “.. . that is what I fear. Because of me, my family would kill each other.”

Jess took the same narrative to describe her initial resistance against her stepfather. It was not her stepfather, however, who foiled her resistance. It was her mother. Her mother prevented Jess’s attempt to resist. She said: “He abused me every night, and if I said no, he would go wild. I was angry with my Mama because she did not believe me.”

Tragic Resistance Narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

With the tragic resistance narrative, the participants experienced what Freeman ( 2010 ) calls narrative foreclosure , wherein one believes that he or she has no or little prospect for the future. This is detrimental to the self. Some participants experienced hopelessness and even considered committing suicide. This kind of narrative led them to offer little (covert) or no resistance against subsequent abuses. They even became emotionally attached to their abusers.

Dirty and Foreclosed Self

When asked what she felt immediately after the abuse, Jess described herself as

“Filthy. I considered myself filthy because my being had been devastated by a person who was good for nothing .”

She also felt that her future was foreclosed as she lamented,

“I felt hopeless. I felt like I was already totally hopeless. I can’t think of any solution to the problem during that time. I thought there was nobody who could help me because I was hesitant to tell anybody.”

Ana and Mary had the same thought about themselves immediately after the repeated sexual abuse. And after a considerable number of years, they still felt marred by such molestations, although not as intense as immediately after the incidents. For instance, Mary still felt her womanhood tarnished:

“Sometimes, I feel I am the filthiest person. My father sexually abused me.”

Ana had a similar struggle with herself even long after the event. She continued to experience confusion about herself.

Interviewer: Let me ask you this, “How is Ana?” Ana: Tired. Interviewer: What makes Ana tired? Ana: It’s like I do not understand myself.

“Yes, we see each other because her peers are also our classmates, but we feel nothing more than friends. She would just tell me to take care, then we go our separate ways. She asked me why I get attracted to girls. I said I am not attracted to girls; I get attracted to boyish girls. I used to get attracted to boys, but now I hate them. I never had feelings towards lesbians before. When a cousin of mine got into a relationship with a lesbian, I even admonished her from getting involved with the same sex. I wonder why I have changed. Ate Lyn even asked me why I got into a relationship with a girl.”

Emotional Attachment with the Abuser

The tragic resistance narrative invites the participants to build an emotional attachment with the abusers. This is in line with some qualitative research that documented children’s conflicted feelings toward their abusers (Morrison et al. 2018 ). Probably, this is to prevent any harmful retaliatory acts from the abuser towards the abused or to their significant others or to make the abusers believe that they were not resisting.

For instance, after she was abused for the first time, Ana lived with her uncle; she was again raped by her cousin. This time, she did not resist her cousin overtly after the death of her mother and her unborn child, which resulted from her previous overt resistance against her stepfather. Instead, she built a close relationship with her cousin and his family with which she was living. When asked about the frequentness of being abused by her cousin, Ana said:

“He did it to me, maybe two or three times in a month. Sometimes I got insulted because he would bring his girlfriend, and still continued to abuse me. (But) I had high respect for him as an older brother.”

Ana may have been “insulted” or probably jealous that her cousin had a girlfriend whom he brought latter to their house. This indicates her attachment with the abuser, which is also manifested in the last sentence, where she expressed her respect towards him as her elder brother. Ana treated him as part of her family and considered his family her own; in fact, she even participated in their family drinking sessions and became drunk at times. And just like Ana, Mary also became attached to her father, who raped her repeatedly. This was because she was concerned with what could happen to him if she would leave him. She said:

“He even told me that he wanted me for his wife because women avoid him. After all, he bathes only once a week. He smells foul and dirty. I was the one who did his laundry. Our neighbors kept on telling me to finish my studies so that I could get away from him. But it is difficult to leave him. I am concerned about him because every time he got drunk, he would wake up everybody and put a fight.”

Subtle Resistance and Disclosure

A tragic narrative calls one for inaction because of fear (Smith 2005 ). It curtails any hope for the future and halts one from advancing towards it. Similar things occurred among some of the participants. Despite the abuses, they stayed with their abusers. That is why they experienced repeated sexual abuse. Their actions were enactions dictated by the emplotted narrative of their experiences of abuse (Frank 2010 ). Their actions became dialogical copies of their narrative. Nevertheless, instead of not doing anything, they made subtle resistance and disclosure. They expressed their agency strategically in a covert way, possibly, to avoid retaliation from the offender.

Ana, for instance, feigned a pregnancy after experiencing repeated abuses. This was a very strategic ploy. It was effective and, at the same time, did not require her to create a disorder in the family; although, there were still risks associated with it. She shared:

“At the end of December, I pretentiously told him I was pregnant to stop him from raping me. He was terrified, and he did stop raping me. He even gave me some pills, but I did not take them.”

On the other hand, Kay employed playful covert resistance. She used jokes against her abuser, although it had no similar effect as that of Ana’s. For example, she said,

“Mama’s brother used to carry a gun and has abused me several times - five times already. At times, I would jokingly tell him: “You know, I will report what happened; I will report you, Uncle, to the police station.” But, he wasn’t thinking that I was joking. I asked him, “Uncle, how many times have you done it to me already? Do you remember you stripped me naked, you removed my panty and my skirt and then kissed me in the mouth, my breasts, and licked my bottom?” After that, he warned me: “Do not to tell your father, mother, and my older brother -- because if you do, I will shoot them.” I said, “Yes, Uncle, I understand.” I was crying at that time.”

In this case, the participants made subtle disclosures – although not within their immediate family. They disclosed to their friends, neighbors, and the police. Mary opened to her neighbors (boarders), who were also caught in a tragic resistance narrative. This time, it is the neighbor’s daughter who was almost raped by her drunk father. But they did not report it to the authorities. She shared this:

“They asked me what my father did to me, but I did not answer them; I only cried. They said it would be New Year so I should have a new life and should not be staying at home always. That prompted me to tell them what happened to me. They asked me how I should deal with the situation. That was it; they were also afraid to report to the police because my father warned that whoever will help me, will be killed. He also warned of killing my brother and me if I would tell anybody about the incident.”

Ana made a similar kind of disclosure to the mother of her best friend. She did not disclose it to her uncle, who supported her, because she feared that a similar tragic event in her family would occur again. Ana said:

Interviewer: Did you tell anybody? Ana: I didn’t tell anyone except the mother of my best friend whom I trusted most. Interviewer: What prompted you to tell? Ana: Because I could no longer bear the thought that even his father can do the same to me when we were supposed to be kins. So I told the mother of my classmate, and she even cried.

Rescued Slave Narrative

Another common narrative invoked by the participants is the rescued slave narrative. This is a progressive type of narrative (Gergen and Gergen 1988 ). Emancipation was the key theme in this narrative: emancipation from the bondage of sex slavery and other forms of oppression. However, this emancipation was not the participants’ initiative but of other people and a Higher Being. The agency on the part of the participants was minimal, especially in terms of disclosure and resistance. This narrative’s typical structure is: “Women are subjected to slavery and other forms of oppression. They become martyr slaves and break down inside. Somebody rescues them, and they are freed from the bondage of their abusers.”

Joy had employed this kind of narrative. She was repeatedly raped by her grandfather as if she were a sex slave. She broke down and cried. She was asked why and then she disclosed. Then, some people helped her get her grandfather arrested and incarcerated.

“The first time I got raped was when I was eight years old. Since then, I was raped by my Lolo several times. I never told anyone about it because he warned me not to. Every time he gets drunk, he would rape me. One time, my Lola's sibling was in the house, and my nephews and nieces, Lolo started to rape me. However, I cried, so they asked me why I was crying. It was then that I told them about it. They helped me get my abuser jailed.”

This rescued slave narrative tends to be a mimetic copy of her slave narrative before the sexual abuses occurred. The same is also true with the other participants who employed this kind of narrative. Their narrative of the abuses was dialogical (Frank 2010 ) because it cohered with the narratives of their lives before the abuses. We can see that Joy’s slave narrative during the abuses formed a dialogue with her narrative of her experiences before the abuses. Both narratives cohered. Joy shared that before the abuses happened,

“I used to babysit my nephew and niece. When I get home, I would fetch water. And sometimes, I get home late after traveling on foot because we had no money to pay for a ride from school which was quite a distance, and I get whipped, and the child of my Lola (grand) would hit me on the head when I commit an offense."

The participants used the same type of slave narrative to emplot the abuses but in a progressive mode due to the rescue being made by others.

Jean, likewise, used the same rescued slave narrative. She experienced trauma after her employer abused her, and she seldom talked with her co-workers; she was in shock and absent-minded. It was her boyfriend and her mother who rescued her. She recounted her rescue moment:

“I was already at home one evening. My boyfriend noticed that I wasn’t my usual self and appeared bothered. Then I confided to him about the abuse. The following day my mother went to the police to report.”

Meanwhile, Bem had a similar narrative:

Interviewer: What prompted you, Bem, to speak up? Who was the first person you have spoken to? Bem: My aunt. Interviewer: Why did you speak up? Bem: They confronted me, saying, “Bem, we heard stories that your brother has molested you.” I said, “Yes, Auntie, and I don’t know why.” And she said to me, “Just don’t tell him; we will just report it.”

It was only when her aunt confronted Bem that she disclosed. This was typical in the rescued slave narrative. These participants were powerless, martyr victims. They broke down, and people noticed their depressive symptoms and then asked them why, and that was when they eventually disclosed.

Rescued Slave narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

The participants who employed the rescued slave narrative saw themselves as powerless against the oppressive forces which perpetrated sexual abuses and other forms of torment. But, they were rescued after others noticed the pain they just kept inside them. This type of narrative has profound effects on the self, relationships, and actions of these participants.

Rescued Slave Identity

On the other hand, some participants in this study also assumed the rescued slave identity. With this identification, they felt relieved to have been freed from their oppressors. Some frequently heard words in these narratives include “makagawas ” (to be free), “move on,” and “ nahuwasan ” (relieved). Another participant named Kat reported that,

“After arriving here (crisis center), I felt relaxed because nobody bothers me anymore, especially at night. I am thrilled to learn that I have many companions here who are also victims like me. I thought I was the only one who had experienced such an ordeal. I am happy because no matter what, there are people who could help.”

This kind of narrative was also captured in the stories of Joy. She recounted that she was happy after leaving the house of her abusive grandfather. She said:

“I am happy I have left the house of my Lolo and met some people here in the city. In here (crisis center), I feel like they are my family.”

However, this narrative only indicates that the abused just keep a physical distance away from their abusers. Like in the account of Joy, this physical or spatial dimension only allowed them to escape in space but not in memories. The stigma associated with their slave identity remained, and getting rescued would not wipe away the stains. This slave identity still dwells in them. After being rescued, Joy again employed the same type of narrative, this time in another form of oppression:

“Where I used to stay was quite okay, but I still felt a little sad because the sibling of my auntie was a bit nosy on me and my personal belongings and went around telling unpleasant and unreal things about me. Now I am okay that I am out of that place.”

Kim had a similar experience of oppression after being freed from sexual abuse. He could not escape the stigma of having a slave identity, and neither could he escape its enslaving memories . Like Kim, Jean recounted these memories:

“I am attempting to disregard what happened. I want to move on now. But I could not avoid remembering it, mostly since our courses now talk about court cases. So, I would have no reactions; I keep quiet, and I do not study the lessons. However, I try to overcome it as much as I could.”

Disaffiliation from the Abusers

Within the tragic resistance narrative , the participants developed an emotional attachment with the abusers; on the contrary, the participants were disaffiliated or disconnected from their abusers and connected with those who rescued them in the rescued slave narrative . The participants were happy to have escaped from the control of their abusers and tried as much as possible to keep their distance from them. All they wanted was for the abusers to be punished.

While Joy was delighted to leave her grandfather’s house, Bem also learned that her father had known the abuses done by his brother towards her when she was still 5 years old; however, instead of standing by her side, he blamed her and calling her slutty. This changed Bem’s perception of her father, so she decided not to stay with them anymore.

As for Jean’s abuser’s daughter-in-law, who befriended her on Facebook :

“I want this case to be resolved, especially that he has not been arrested and is currently free. On Facebook, his daughter-in-law sent a friend request to me. I wonder how she knew my Facebook profile and why she sent a friend request. I just disregard her.”

Therefore, the participants were disaffiliated from their abusers, and those they believed were their cohorts. They executed what the rescued slave narrative demands, and this is to separate and leave their abusers in space as traditional slave rescue dictates. As a result, they became more connected with their heroes who rescued them.

Emotional Resistance and Disclosure

The classic slave narrative demands that the slaves be submissive to their masters and be martyrs regardless of the oppression and abuses (Jacobs 2009 ). This narrative had a profound impact on some of the participants. They executed what this narrative demands and played martyrs to the repeated sexual abuses.

This action prevented them from initiating the disclosure process; however, this does not mean that they did not participate in the disclosure process. Although their rescuers initiated the disclosure by asking and confronting them upon seeing them in distress, the participants were truly part of the ritual. The participants’ emotional manifestations of anxiety, depression, and shock were part of the slave narrative. Apparently, they used these to let others know that there was something wrong with them. This cue invited the “heroes” to make sense of their tormenting situation and initiate the disclosure process. Such is what happened to Joy in her previous recount “…so they asked me why I was crying. It was then that I told them about it. They helped me get my abuser jailed.” Her aching emotions were a form of resistance and disclosure, albeit not in words.

Heroic Saga Narrative

The last of the narrative types is the heroic saga narrative. Here, the protagonist is characterized as undergoing a “continuous array of battles against the powers of darkness” (Gergen and Gergen 1988 : 26). This character experiences a series of ups and downs; the theme is progressive but ends in success. This narrative is generally “an adventure tale with several stops where the protagonist encounters trials, oppositions, and challenges but overcomes such testing and emerges as victorious.” This narrative serves as a counter-story to the most dominant and common narratives - tragic resistance and rescued slave narratives. Specifically, only one participant in this study emplotted her experiences through this narrative. May had a similar and could be a much worse experience than some of the participants. She was molested repeatedly by multiple offenders. Unfortunately, along with her, her twin was also abused by her abusers. However, she employed the heroic saga narrative portraying herself as the hero who was in control of herself and the situations she was in. Much can be learned from her. As she recounted:

“I do not know. When my stepfather molested me, I was not in the right mind because my nephew was in the hospital with a 50-50 chance of surviving. My twin and my elder sister were the ones who were in the hospital while I was left at home. On that day, Mama was in the market; it was noontime. He called me to get inside the house because I was at the store. He was holding a knife and told me to sit in the cot and remove my clothes. I refused to remove my clothes despite his insistence until my mother arrived. He dropped the knife beside me and ran to the restroom.

Notice that despite the repeated demands of the abuser, she did not obey his order to undress herself until her mother arrived. This kind of narrative is resonant with the narrative type of the story of the second abuse she shared. This time her brother-in-law attempted to abuse her, but she did not bend to his demand. She was hit, so she screamed aloud, and her sister discovered about this attempted abuse. May recalled:

“He grabbed my leg and pulled me downstairs, but I managed to climb upstairs and hold tight to my twin. He called me to go to him, but I did not. I whispered to my twin. I said, “Jam, our brother. . .” Jam clutched me tighter. The two of us were bracing each other so that I could not be pulled down. Because I did not give in, he hit me, causing me to scream. The commotion roused my elder sister, Che. She asked me what happened. He went downstairs, and I said, “Our brother hit me.” As he resumed his drinking, my sister called him, resulting in another fracas.”

Still, there was another instance when her brother-in-law fondled her. She ran away afterward. With this, she acted with full agency and full control of herself and her situation. She was not a helpless, powerless girl submitting herself to a master, and she was not afraid of retaliation. She fought. She said:

“There was also a time when my older sister told me to stay home because she was going someplace. Our brother started touching me (during that time, I was already working). The following day, I did not return home. My twin and I left. We searched for a new job until we reached Pampanga and found a very kind employer. We stayed there for a long time and have not seen our sister and our Mama since then. “

Heroic Saga Narrative’s Effects on the Self, Relationships, and Actions

The heroic saga narrative had far-reaching effects on the identity, relationships, and actions of May. She viewed herself as a hero who did not wait for help from her family members. She fought her way to free herself from the bondage of her sexual abusers.

Heroic Identity and Heroic Actions

In the adventure tale that she had emplotted, May stood as the main protagonist. Although the heroic saga narrative is characterized by the hero as the abused, it also has a progressive theme similar to that of the rescued slave identity where the hero is the rescuer. In the case of May, she had the full agency and control of herself and her situation. She did not let her situation or other people dictate what to feel, think, and do.

In line with the heroic narrative, she felt much stronger about how she coped with the abuses than others who would typically break down. May said:

“Difficult. I do not know. The good thing was, for example, if this happened to other people, I think they would already break down. It was a good thing that although there were so many challenges that came to my life, I stood my ground and was able to surmount them all. Even in this recent ordeal, I fought and remained strong.”

She narrated that she had fought and survived and even acted in full control of her abuser at one point. She even objected that her brother-in-law’s term of imprisonment be lowered:

May: I wanted him incarcerated for six to eight years, but he pleaded for three years or below. I was against it, but I told the fiscal that if he did not agree, I would testify [in court]. Interviewer: Oh, did they move for amicable settlement? May: Yes, but when [social worker] and I went to the Hall of Justice on September 11, it was Monday, they agreed to my offer of six to eight years.

In this part, the word “my offer” implies that May was in full control. She was the one offering – suggesting that the fate of her abuser was in her hands. She also had good future aspirations: “Everything is now clear because the case is already over. I have a plan to go back to my school before in Piapi. My elder brother asked me whether I would continue. I said, “Yes.”

In terms of her affiliations, she found connections and easy identifications with those people who had similar narratives with her. She could open up her problems and shared her experiences with people who, in a way, lifted her spirit. Moreover, the heroic narrative also seemed to wipe away all the stigma of the abuses. During the interview, she reported having no negative feelings because “I do not mind it anymore… it’s harmful to me. It is nothing to me anymore.”

May’s reaction could entirely be different from that of the dominant tragic resistance and rescued slave narratives. Unlike the rest where the stigma remains, her narrative tells that she has won over the torment.

The purpose of this paper was to describe the narrative types and effects of the stories of sexual abuse experiences of Filipino children and adolescents in their childhood and adolescence. The study is essential in filling up gaps in the literature on child and adolescent sexual abuse. Also, it introduces an alternative narrative analysis – dialogical narrative analysis – in analyzing stories on sexual abuse. With this perspective, stories are seen as retrospective and prospective polyphonic and heteroglossic devices in representing actions and experiences. Narratives as cultural symbols tend to have influences on children and adolescents’ adjustment after sexual abuse experiences. The study provides an answer to Morrison et al.’s ( 2018 ) conflicting results of their review. In their review, some studies show that fear may or may not prompt children to disclose, and they attribute this to the type of abuse experienced. However, we argue that it is not primarily the type of event that occurred, but the type of narrative a particular child or adolescent takes to narrate her story that influences her reactions to the abuse, as shown by the idiosyncratic effects of the three narrative types in this study. As Rabih Alameddine ( 2009 , p.450) notes: “Events matter little, only stories of those events affect us.”

We found three different ‘narrative types’ (Frank 1995 ) in the stories of 10 female Filipinos who experienced sexual abuse. These narrative types are tragic resistance narrative, rescued slave narrative, and heroic saga narrative. We coined these narrative types by loosely basing it on the narrative typology suggested by Smith ( 2016 ). These narratives have idiosyncratic consequences on the identities, social affiliations, and actions of the participants. This supports the contentions of socio-narratology that narratives do not just represent actions but also act prospectively in influencing what identities the participants would take, whom they would affiliate, and what actions to take (Frank 2010 , 2012 ).

We can also see the influence of the Filipino culture on the narratives of the participants. This influence demonstrates the heteroglossic and polyphonic nature of narratives (Frank 2012 ). Filipinos are communitarian (Guevara 2005 ). With this, relationships are highly valued. Thus, the interests of the family and the community are considered superior to individual interests. This is probably the primary reason why most of the participants’ stories were told in the tragic resistance and rescued slave narrative. They were afraid that if they disclosed the abuses, it would ruin family relationships. Moreover, those who used rescued slave narratives tended to be highly dependent on family and friends’ help. The self and its interests were sidetracked as only one participant storied her life in a heroic and individualistic manner.

Although the study is informative, it is not without limitations. Contextual limitations are present in the study. Other contexts might provide different narrative types and consequences of such narratives because the culture is at play in narrative research. Thus, we join other scholars’ call in conducting more qualitative studies on children’s and adolescents’ narrative voices on their sexual abuse experiences. Also, the study is limited in the type of participants. The present study analyzed stories of those who had been admitted to a crisis center. Stories of victims who have no such admission might differ. Thus, future research should explore the narrative voices of victims not admitted to crisis centers.

The study is also limited in terms of focusing only on the structure and consequences of the narrative. It has not delved into what influences one to take such a narrative. Thus, future research could address this limitation by looking into the personal and contextual variabilities in the production of stories. It has also been widely acknowledged that interviewing is a co-production between the research participant and the interviewer (Gubrium and Holstein 2009 ; Holstein and Gubrium 1995 ). The interviewer exerts an influence on the stories produced. Thus, the interviewer (first author) might have a unique influence on the participants. Nevertheless, she built enough rapport to address this. Future research can still employ less intrusive ways of conducting narrative analysis, like visual analysis (Riessman 2008 ).

This study is just a step going forward in employing the narrative approach to sexual abuse studies. It is only a primary seed for exploring both the ‘whats’ and especially the ‘hows,’ which have been neglected in narrative research (Gubrium and Holstein 2009 ). Future research could explore the different dimensions of narrative analysis – thematic, structural, dialogical, and even visual (Riessman 2008 ). Moreover, we argue that future scholars should take guidance from Frank’s ( 2010 , 2012 ) socio-narratology and dialogical narrative analysis to do this. Socio-narratology addresses the theoretical and methodological needs implied by Gibson and Morgan ( 2013 ). They argued that there is a need for sexual abuse research to analyze the linkages among contexts, abuse, and consequences of these abuses as illuminated by stories, which do not neglect contexts and idiosyncrasies of different experiences studies suffer.

Future studies could also build upon the current findings, especially on the three narrative types. There may be other narrative types available in other localities as culture and contexts provide variability in narratives. Moreover, these narratives are the resources people use to tell their stories (Frank 2010 , 2012 ; Harrington  2008 ; Riessman 2008 ). Thus, sexual abuse stories may differ in other places. Other researchers could pursue this line of inquiry.

Moreover, it is suggested that more studies on child sexual abuse be done in the Philippines. A recent review found a lack of research on child maltreatment, especially on sexual abuse. Sexual abuse has been known to have far-reaching adverse consequences for the victims, and more research can be conducted about this (Roche 2017 ). Moreover, the narrative approach could give an avenue to hear these victims’ ‘voices,’ especially with the recent interest in cultural studies of children and adolescents’ sexual abuse experiences.

Authors contribution

Conceptualization: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña, Dan Jerome S. Barrera], Methodology: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña]; Formal analysis and investigation: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña with the assistance of Dan Jerome S. Barrera]; Writing - original draft preparation: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña]; Writing - review and editing: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña, Dan Jerome S. Barrera]; Funding acquisition: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña]; Resources: [Nora Maria Elena T. Osmeña].

Funding for this study was derived from the Commission on Higher Education [Philippines].

Compliance with Ethical Standards

All rules and regulations related to research with human participants were strictly followed. Ethical clearance was given by the Silliman University ethics committee.

Informed consent was obtained from the participants and authorized personnel.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

This paper was a derivative of the doctoral dissertation of the first author at Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Philippines

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

• Alaggia R, Collin-Vézina D, Lateef R. Facilitators and barriers to child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosures: A research update (2000–2016) Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 2019; 20 (2):260–283. doi: 10.1177/1524838017697312. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Alameddine R. The Hakawati. New York: Anchor Books; 2009. [ Google Scholar ]
• Alexander JC, Smith P. The discourse of American civil society: A new proposal for cultural studies. Theory and Society. 1993; 22 (2):151–207. doi: 10.1007/BF00993497. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Amado BG, Arce R, Herraiz A. Psychological injury in victims of child sexual abuse: A meta-analytic review. Psychosocial Intervention. 2015; 24 (1):49–62. doi: 10.1016/j.psi.2015.03.002. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Barth J, Bermetz L, Heim E, Trelle S, Tonia T. The current prevalence of child sexual abuse worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Public Health. 2013; 58 (3):469–483. doi: 10.1007/s00038-012-0426-1. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bruner J. Life as narrative. Social Research. 1987; 54 (1):11–32. [ Google Scholar ]
• Caddick N. Doing narrative analysis. In: Lyons E, Coyle A, editors. Analysing qualitative data in psychology. London: SAGE Publications; 2016. [ Google Scholar ]
• Capella C, Lama X, Rodríguez L, Águila D, Beiza G, Dussert D, Gutierrez C. Winning a race: Narratives of healing and psychotherapy in children and adolescents who have been sexually abused. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 2016; 25 (1):73–92. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2015.1088915. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Carr D. Time, narrative, and history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; 1986. [ Google Scholar ]
• Council for the Welfare of Children & UNICEF. (2016). National baseline study on violence against children: Philippines. CWC & UNICEF Philippines. Retrieved from https://uni.cf/2YUDKOq .
• Foster JM, Hagedorn WB. Through the eyes of the wounded: A narrative analysis of children’s sexual abuse experiences and recovery process. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 2014; 23 (5):538–557. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2014.918072. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Frank AW. The wounded storyteller: Body, illness, and ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1995. [ Google Scholar ]
• Frank AW. Letting stories breathe: A socio-narratology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 2010. [ Google Scholar ]
• Frank AW. Practicing dialogical narrative analysis. In: Holstein J, Gubrium J, editors. Varieties of narrative analysis. London: SAGE Publications; 2012. [ Google Scholar ]
• Freeman M. Hindsight: The promise and peril of looking backward. New York: Oxford University Press; 2010. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gergen KJ, Gergen MM. Narrative and the self as relationship. In: Berkowitz L, editor. Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press; 1988. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gibson K, Morgan M. Narrative research on child sexual abuse: Addressing perennial problems in quantitative research. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2013; 10 (3):298–317. doi: 10.1080/14780887.2011.606597. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gordon MT, Riger S. The female fear. New York: The Free Press; 1989. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gubrium JF, Holstein JA. Analyzing narrative reality. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications; 2009. [ Google Scholar ]
• Guevara JP. Pakikipagkapwa [sharing/merging oneself with others] In: Gripaldo RM, editor. Filipino cultural traits . Washington: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy; 2005. [ Google Scholar ]
• Harrington, A. (2008). The cure within: A history of mind-body medicine . New York: NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
• Harvey MR, Mishler EG, Koenen K, Harney PA. In the aftermath of sexual abuse: Making and remaking meaning in narratives of trauma and recovery. Narrative Inquiry. 2000; 10 (2):291–311. doi: 10.1075/ni.10.2.02har. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hillberg T, Hamilton-Giachritsis C, Dixon L. Review of meta-analyses on the association between child sexual abuse and adult mental health difficulties: A systematic approach. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 2011; 12 (1):38–49. doi: 10.1177/1524838010386812. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Holstein JA, Gubrium JF. The active interview. London: Sage; 1995. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hunt, D. D., & Gatbonton, C. S. (2000). Filipino women and sexual violence: Speaking out and providing services. Australia: Solidarity Philippines Australia Network. Retrieved from http://cpcabrisbane.org/CPCA/IWSSForum.htm .
• Hunter SV. Evolving narratives about childhood sexual abuse: Challenging the dominance of the victim and survivor paradigm. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy. 2010; 31 (2):176–190. doi: 10.1375/anft.31.2.176. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jackson S, Newall E, Backett-Milburn K. Children's narratives of sexual abuse. Child & Family Social Work. 2015; 20 (3):322–332. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12080. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jacobs HA. Incidents in the life of a slave girl: Written by herself. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2009. [ Google Scholar ]
• Jensen TK, Gulbrandsen W, Mossige S, Reichelt S, Tjersland OA. Reporting possible sexual abuse: A qualitative study on children's perspectives and the context for disclosure. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2005; 29 (12):1395–1413. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.07.004. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Jovchelovitch S, Bauer M. Narrative interviewing. In: Bauer M, Gaskell G, editors. Qualitative researching with text, image and sound. London: Sage; 2000. pp. 57–74. [ Google Scholar ]
• Labov W, Waletzky J. Narrative analysis: Oral versions of personal experience. In: Helm J, editor. Essays on the verbal and visual arts. Seattle: University of Washington Press; 1967. [ Google Scholar ]
• MacIntyre A. After virtue: A study in moral theory. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press; 1981. [ Google Scholar ]
• Maniglio R. The impact of child sexual abuse on health: A systematic review of reviews. Clinical Psychology Review. 2009; 29 (7):647–657. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.08.003. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McElvaney R, Greene S, Hogan D. To tell or not to tell? Factors influencing young people’s informal disclosures of child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2014; 29 (5):928–947. doi: 10.1177/0886260513506281. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Morrison SE, Bruce C, Wilson S. Children’s disclosure of sexual abuse: A systematic review of qualitative research exploring barriers and facilitators. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 2018; 27 (2):176–194. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2018.1425943. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Norman RE, Byambaa M, De R, Butchart A, Scott J, Vos T. The long-term health consequences of child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine. 2012; 9 (11):e1001349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001349. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Plummer K. Telling sexual stories: Power, change and social worlds. London: Routledge; 2003. [ Google Scholar ]
• Polkinghorne DE. Narrative knowing and the human sciences. Albany, NY: SUNY Press; 1988. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ramiro LS, Madrid BJ, Brown DW. Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and health-risk behaviors among adults in a developing country setting. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2010; 34 (11):842–855. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.02.012. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ricoeur P. Time and narrative. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1984. [ Google Scholar ]
• Riessman CK. Narrative methods for the human sciences. New York: SAGE Publications; 2008. [ Google Scholar ]
• Roche S. Child protection and maltreatment in the Philippines: A systematic review of the literature. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies. 2017; 4 (1):104–128. doi: 10.1002/app5.167. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• San Diego RJS. Healing the invisible wounds of trauma: A qualitative analysis. Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy. 2011; 2 (2):151–170. doi: 10.1080/21507686.2011.588243. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sanjeevi J, Houlihan D, Bergstrom KA, Langley MM, Judkins J. A review of child sexual abuse: Impact, risk, and resilience in the context of culture. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 2018; 27 (6):622–641. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2018.1486934. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schaeffer P, Leventhal JM, Asnes AG. Children's disclosures of sexual abuse: Learning from direct inquiry. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2011; 35 (5):343–352. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.01.014. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schönbucher V, Maier T, Mohler-Kuo M, Schnyder U, Landolt MA. Disclosure of child sexual abuse by adolescents: A qualitative in-depth study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2012; 27 (17):3486–3513. doi: 10.1177/0886260512445380. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Smith P. Why war? The cultural logic of Iraq, the Gulf war, and Suez. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 2005. [ Google Scholar ]
• Smith B. Narrative analysis. In: Lyons E, Coyle A, editors. Analysing qualitative data in psychology. London: SAGE Publications; 2016. [ Google Scholar ]
• Teicher MH, Samson JA. Annual research review: Enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2016; 57 (3):241–266. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12507. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tener D, Murphy SB. Adult disclosure of child sexual abuse: A literature review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 2015; 16 (4):391–400. doi: 10.1177/1524838014537906. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Watkins-Kagebein J, Barnett TM, Collier-Tenison S, Blakey J. They don’t listen: A qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis of children’s sexual abuse. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. 2019; 36 (4):337–349. doi: 10.1007/s10560-019-00615-w. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wong G, Breheny M. Narrative analysis in health psychology: A guide for analysis. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. 2018; 6 (1):245–261. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2018.1515017. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

KABANATA 3 METODOLOHIYA NG PANANALIKSIK

Related Papers

Danica Lorraine Garena

Ang pag-aaral na ito ay isinagawa upang mabatid ang pananaw ng mag-aaral sa paggamit ng mga sariling komposisyon ng panitikang pambata at antas ng pang-unawa. Sa pag-aaral na ito binibigyang katugunan ang mga sumusunod na katanungan: Ano ang pananaw ng mga tagasagot sa paggamit ng mga Sariling Komposisyon ngPanitikang Pambata bataysa nilalaman,layunin,disensyo/istilo, kasanayan/gawain; Ano ang antas ng pang-unawa ng mga tagasagot sa paggamit ng mga Sariling Komposisyon ng Panitikang Pambata batay sa Pang-unawang Literal at Pang-unawangKritikal; May makabuluhang kaugnayan ba ang pananaw ng mag-aaral sa paggamit ng mga Sariling Komposisyon ng Panitikang Pambata at Antas ng Pang- unawa sa Pagbasa; Ang pamamaraang palarawan-correlation ang ginamit ng mananaliksik upang makalap ang mahalaga at makatotohanang impormasyon na kinakailangan sa pag-aaral. Ang istatistikal na pamamaraan na ginamit sa pagsasaliksik ay weighted mean at standard deviation para sa pananawng mga tagasagot sa Mga Sa...

The Normal Lights

Rodrigo Abenes

Layunin ng pananaliksik ang makabuo ng mga lunsarang aralin at gawaing angkla sa MELCs o Most Essential Learning Competencies sa primaryang antas. Pangunahing metodo ang disenyong palarawan at pagbuo ng mga lokalisado at kontekstuwalisadong may temang katutubo, kabuhayan, kalinangan, kapaligiran, at diskursong kasarian na angkop sa pagtuturo sa anyong modyular, harapan, o blended. Ginamit ang sarbey at panayam sa mga piling kalahok. Lumabas sa pag-aaral na epektibo ang mga aralin kapag nakadikit sa karanasan, kaligiran, at interes ng mga mag-aaral. Ang mga kontekstuwalisadong aralin na pinagtibay sa konteksto ng pandemya at bagong kadawyan o new normal ay mainam na gamiting sandigang kaalaman sa kasanayan at kahusayang komunikatibo sa Filipino at iba pang kaugnay na disiplina.

Robert Paull

Teaching Mathematics and Computer Science

Bujdosó Gyöngyi

Kritike: An Online Journal of Philosophy

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Dr. Ronald Wright

Mansa Gurjar

Debajit Sarma

Oxford Art Journal

Abigail Solomon-Godeau

Journal of Economics Theory

Mohd Nasran Mohamad

RELATED PAPERS

… de Recursos Naturales

José Arellano-Monterrosas

Journal of Business Anthropology

Kasper Tang Vangkilde

Herlina Putri Rianti

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Chelsea Blankenship

Journal of Asthma and Allergy

shazalyana azman

Dubravka Zima , Martina Jurišić

ABCS Health Sciences

Laís Vargas Botelho

Key Engineering Materials

Ulfar Arinbjarnar

SOULEYMANE Diallo

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

Zong-Liang Yang

linda puji astuti

Dalia Mandour

GRISEL JULIXA LOPEZ DIAZ

Journal of Near-Death Studies

Contzen Pereira

Physiological research

Aminata Sall Diallo

Journal of Medical Economics

Brian Lovatt

South African Journal of Botany

Christopher Cupido

World Journal of Nano Science and Engineering

Ines Portugal

Jorge Hintze

Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences

Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences , Shernazarov Anvar

Critical Care

Jean-charles Preiser

Maine Policy Review

Kim McKeage

Mercedes Careche

Ala'a Salman

Research Enhancement Program Final …

Dexter Freeman

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

• Privacy Policy

Buy Me a Coffee

Home » 500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

500+ Qualitative Research Titles and Topics

Table of Contents

Qualitative research is a methodological approach that involves gathering and analyzing non-numerical data to understand and interpret social phenomena. Unlike quantitative research , which emphasizes the collection of numerical data through surveys and experiments, qualitative research is concerned with exploring the subjective experiences, perspectives, and meanings of individuals and groups. As such, qualitative research topics can be diverse and encompass a wide range of social issues and phenomena. From exploring the impact of culture on identity formation to examining the experiences of marginalized communities, qualitative research offers a rich and nuanced perspective on complex social issues. In this post, we will explore some of the most compelling qualitative research topics and provide some tips on how to conduct effective qualitative research.

Qualitative Research Titles

Qualitative research titles often reflect the study’s focus on understanding the depth and complexity of human behavior, experiences, or social phenomena. Here are some examples across various fields:

• “Understanding the Impact of Project-Based Learning on Student Engagement in High School Classrooms: A Qualitative Study”
• “Navigating the Transition: Experiences of International Students in American Universities”
• “The Role of Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Perspectives from Teachers and Parents”
• “Exploring the Effects of Teacher Feedback on Student Motivation and Self-Efficacy in Middle Schools”
• “Digital Literacy in the Classroom: Teacher Strategies for Integrating Technology in Elementary Education”
• “Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices: A Case Study in Diverse Urban Schools”
• “The Influence of Extracurricular Activities on Academic Achievement: Student Perspectives”
• “Barriers to Implementing Inclusive Education in Public Schools: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “Teacher Professional Development and Its Impact on Classroom Practice: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “Student-Centered Learning Environments: A Qualitative Study of Classroom Dynamics and Outcomes”
• “The Experience of First-Year Teachers: Challenges, Support Systems, and Professional Growth”
• “Exploring the Role of School Leadership in Fostering a Positive School Culture”
• “Peer Relationships and Learning Outcomes in Cooperative Learning Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “The Impact of Social Media on Student Learning and Engagement: Teacher and Student Perspectives”
• “Understanding Special Education Needs: Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Support Services in Schools

Health Science

• “Living with Chronic Pain: Patient Narratives and Coping Strategies in Managing Daily Life”
• “Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on the Challenges of Rural Healthcare Delivery”
• “Exploring the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on Frontline Healthcare Workers: A Qualitative Study”
• “Patient and Family Experiences of Palliative Care: Understanding Needs and Preferences”
• “The Role of Community Health Workers in Improving Access to Maternal Healthcare in Rural Areas”
• “Barriers to Mental Health Services Among Ethnic Minorities: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “Understanding Patient Satisfaction in Telemedicine Services: A Qualitative Study of User Experiences”
• “The Impact of Cultural Competence Training on Healthcare Provider-Patient Communication”
• “Navigating the Transition to Adult Healthcare Services: Experiences of Adolescents with Chronic Conditions”
• “Exploring the Use of Alternative Medicine Among Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “The Role of Social Support in the Rehabilitation Process of Stroke Survivors”
• “Healthcare Decision-Making Among Elderly Patients: A Qualitative Study of Preferences and Influences”
• “Nurse Perceptions of Patient Safety Culture in Hospital Settings: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “Experiences of Women with Postpartum Depression: Barriers to Seeking Help”
• “The Impact of Nutrition Education on Eating Behaviors Among College Students: A Qualitative Approach”
• “Understanding Resilience in Survivors of Childhood Trauma: A Narrative Inquiry”
• “The Role of Mindfulness in Managing Work-Related Stress Among Corporate Employees: A Qualitative Study”
• “Coping Mechanisms Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
• “Exploring the Psychological Impact of Social Isolation in the Elderly: A Phenomenological Study”
• “Identity Formation in Adolescence: The Influence of Social Media and Peer Groups”
• “The Experience of Forgiveness in Interpersonal Relationships: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “Perceptions of Happiness and Well-Being Among University Students: A Cultural Perspective”
• “The Impact of Art Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Adult Cancer Patients”
• “Narratives of Recovery: A Qualitative Study on the Journey Through Addiction Rehabilitation”
• “Exploring the Psychological Effects of Long-Term Unemployment: A Grounded Theory Approach”
• “Attachment Styles and Their Influence on Adult Romantic Relationships: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “The Role of Personal Values in Career Decision-Making Among Young Adults”
• “Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness in Rural Communities: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “Exploring the Use of Digital Mental Health Interventions Among Adolescents: A Qualitative Study”
• “The Psychological Impact of Climate Change on Young Adults: An Exploration of Anxiety and Action”
• “Navigating Identity: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Youth Culture and Self-Perception”
• “Community Resilience in the Face of Urban Gentrification: A Case Study of Neighborhood Change”
• “The Dynamics of Intergenerational Relationships in Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Analysis”
• “Social Capital and Economic Mobility in Low-Income Neighborhoods: An Ethnographic Approach”
• “Gender Roles and Career Aspirations Among Young Adults in Conservative Societies”
• “The Stigma of Mental Health in the Workplace: Employee Narratives and Organizational Culture”
• “Exploring the Intersection of Race, Class, and Education in Urban School Systems”
• “The Impact of Digital Divide on Access to Healthcare Information in Rural Communities”
• “Social Movements and Political Engagement Among Millennials: A Qualitative Study”
• “Cultural Adaptation and Identity Among Second-Generation Immigrants: A Phenomenological Inquiry”
• “The Role of Religious Institutions in Providing Community Support and Social Services”
• “Negotiating Public Space: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Individuals in Urban Environments”
• “The Sociology of Food: Exploring Eating Habits and Food Practices Across Cultures”
• “Work-Life Balance Challenges Among Dual-Career Couples: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “The Influence of Peer Networks on Substance Use Among Adolescents: A Community Study”

Business and Management

• “Navigating Organizational Change: Employee Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies in Mergers and Acquisitions”
• “Corporate Social Responsibility: Consumer Perceptions and Brand Loyalty in the Retail Sector”
• “Leadership Styles and Organizational Culture: A Comparative Study of Tech Startups”
• “Workplace Diversity and Inclusion: Best Practices and Challenges in Multinational Corporations”
• “Consumer Trust in E-commerce: A Qualitative Study of Online Shopping Behaviors”
• “The Gig Economy and Worker Satisfaction: Exploring the Experiences of Freelance Professionals”
• “Entrepreneurial Resilience: Success Stories and Lessons Learned from Failed Startups”
• “Employee Engagement and Productivity in Remote Work Settings: A Post-Pandemic Analysis”
• “Brand Storytelling: How Narrative Strategies Influence Consumer Engagement”
• “Sustainable Business Practices: Stakeholder Perspectives in the Fashion Industry”
• “Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges in Global Teams: Strategies for Effective Collaboration”
• “Innovative Workspaces: The Impact of Office Design on Creativity and Collaboration”
• “Consumer Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service: A Qualitative Exploration”
• “The Role of Mentoring in Career Development: Insights from Women in Leadership Positions”
• “Agile Management Practices: Adoption and Impact in Traditional Industries”

Environmental Studies

• “Community-Based Conservation Efforts in Tropical Rainforests: A Qualitative Study of Local Perspectives and Practices”
• “Urban Sustainability Initiatives: Exploring Resident Participation and Impact in Green City Projects”
• “Perceptions of Climate Change Among Indigenous Populations: Insights from Traditional Ecological Knowledge”
• “Environmental Justice and Industrial Pollution: A Case Study of Community Advocacy and Response”
• “The Role of Eco-Tourism in Promoting Conservation Awareness: Perspectives from Tour Operators and Visitors”
• “Sustainable Agriculture Practices Among Smallholder Farmers: Challenges and Opportunities”
• “Youth Engagement in Climate Action Movements: Motivations, Perceptions, and Outcomes”
• “Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Qualitative Analysis of Stakeholder Expectations and Company Practices”
• “The Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecosystems: Community Awareness and Behavioral Change”
• “Renewable Energy Adoption in Rural Communities: Barriers, Facilitators, and Social Implications”
• “Water Scarcity and Community Adaptation Strategies in Arid Regions: A Grounded Theory Approach”
• “Urban Green Spaces: Public Perceptions and Use Patterns in Megacities”
• “Environmental Education in Schools: Teachers’ Perspectives on Integrating Sustainability into Curricula”
• “The Influence of Environmental Activism on Policy Change: Case Studies of Grassroots Campaigns”
• “Cultural Practices and Natural Resource Management: A Qualitative Study of Indigenous Stewardship Models”

Anthropology

• “Kinship and Social Organization in Matrilineal Societies: An Ethnographic Study”
• “Rituals and Beliefs Surrounding Death and Mourning in Diverse Cultures: A Comparative Analysis”
• “The Impact of Globalization on Indigenous Languages and Cultural Identity”
• “Food Sovereignty and Traditional Agricultural Practices Among Indigenous Communities”
• “Navigating Modernity: The Integration of Traditional Healing Practices in Contemporary Healthcare Systems”
• “Gender Roles and Equality in Hunter-Gatherer Societies: An Anthropological Perspective”
• “Sacred Spaces and Religious Practices: An Ethnographic Study of Pilgrimage Sites”
• “Youth Subcultures and Resistance: An Exploration of Identity and Expression in Urban Environments”
• “Cultural Constructions of Disability and Inclusion: A Cross-Cultural Analysis”
• “Interethnic Marriages and Cultural Syncretism: Case Studies from Multicultural Societies”
• “The Role of Folklore and Storytelling in Preserving Cultural Heritage”
• “Economic Anthropology of Gift-Giving and Reciprocity in Tribal Communities”
• “Digital Anthropology: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Political Movements”
• “Migration and Diaspora: Maintaining Cultural Identity in Transnational Communities”
• “Cultural Adaptations to Climate Change Among Coastal Fishing Communities”

Communication Studies

• “The Dynamics of Family Communication in the Digital Age: A Qualitative Inquiry”
• “Narratives of Identity and Belonging in Diaspora Communities Through Social Media”
• “Organizational Communication and Employee Engagement: A Case Study in the Non-Profit Sector”
• “Cultural Influences on Communication Styles in Multinational Teams: An Ethnographic Approach”
• “Media Representation of Women in Politics: A Content Analysis and Audience Perception Study”
• “The Role of Communication in Building Sustainable Community Development Projects”
• “Interpersonal Communication in Online Dating: Strategies, Challenges, and Outcomes”
• “Public Health Messaging During Pandemics: A Qualitative Study of Community Responses”
• “The Impact of Mobile Technology on Parent-Child Communication in the Digital Era”
• “Crisis Communication Strategies in the Hospitality Industry: A Case Study of Reputation Management”
• “Narrative Analysis of Personal Stories Shared on Mental Health Blogs”
• “The Influence of Podcasts on Political Engagement Among Young Adults”
• “Visual Communication and Brand Identity: A Qualitative Study of Consumer Interpretations”
• “Communication Barriers in Cross-Cultural Healthcare Settings: Patient and Provider Perspectives”
• “The Role of Internal Communication in Managing Organizational Change: Employee Experiences”

Information Technology

• “User Experience Design in Augmented Reality Applications: A Qualitative Study of Best Practices”
• “The Human Factor in Cybersecurity: Understanding Employee Behaviors and Attitudes Towards Phishing”
• “Adoption of Cloud Computing in Small and Medium Enterprises: Challenges and Success Factors”
• “Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management: A Qualitative Exploration of Potential Impacts”
• “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Personalizing User Experiences on E-commerce Platforms”
• “Digital Transformation in Traditional Industries: A Case Study of Technology Adoption Challenges”
• “Ethical Considerations in the Development of Smart Home Technologies: A Stakeholder Analysis”
• “The Impact of Social Media Algorithms on News Consumption and Public Opinion”
• “Collaborative Software Development: Practices and Challenges in Open Source Projects”
• “Understanding the Digital Divide: Access to Information Technology in Rural Communities”
• “Data Privacy Concerns and User Trust in Internet of Things (IoT) Devices”
• “The Effectiveness of Gamification in Educational Software: A Qualitative Study of Engagement and Motivation”
• “Virtual Teams and Remote Work: Communication Strategies and Tools for Effectiveness”
• “User-Centered Design in Mobile Health Applications: Evaluating Usability and Accessibility”
• “The Influence of Technology on Work-Life Balance: Perspectives from IT Professionals”

Tourism and Hospitality

• “Exploring the Authenticity of Cultural Heritage Tourism in Indigenous Communities”
• “Sustainable Tourism Practices: Perceptions and Implementations in Small Island Destinations”
• “The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Destination Choice Among Millennials”
• “Gastronomy Tourism: Exploring the Culinary Experiences of International Visitors in Rural Regions”
• “Eco-Tourism and Conservation: Stakeholder Perspectives on Balancing Tourism and Environmental Protection”
• “The Role of Hospitality in Enhancing the Cultural Exchange Experience of Exchange Students”
• “Dark Tourism: Visitor Motivations and Experiences at Historical Conflict Sites”
• “Customer Satisfaction in Luxury Hotels: A Qualitative Study of Service Excellence and Personalization”
• “Adventure Tourism: Understanding the Risk Perception and Safety Measures Among Thrill-Seekers”
• “The Influence of Local Communities on Tourist Experiences in Ecotourism Sites”
• “Event Tourism: Economic Impacts and Community Perspectives on Large-Scale Music Festivals”
• “Heritage Tourism and Identity: Exploring the Connections Between Historic Sites and National Identity”
• “Tourist Perceptions of Sustainable Accommodation Practices: A Study of Green Hotels”
• “The Role of Language in Shaping the Tourist Experience in Multilingual Destinations”
• “Health and Wellness Tourism: Motivations and Experiences of Visitors to Spa and Retreat Centers”

Qualitative Research Topics

Qualitative Research Topics are as follows:

• Understanding the lived experiences of first-generation college students
• Exploring the impact of social media on self-esteem among adolescents
• Investigating the effects of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction
• Analyzing the perceptions of employees regarding organizational culture
• Examining the impact of parental involvement on academic achievement of elementary school students
• Investigating the role of music therapy in managing symptoms of depression
• Understanding the experience of women in male-dominated industries
• Exploring the factors that contribute to successful leadership in non-profit organizations
• Analyzing the effects of peer pressure on substance abuse among adolescents
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with disabilities in the workplace
• Understanding the factors that contribute to burnout among healthcare professionals
• Examining the impact of social support on mental health outcomes
• Analyzing the perceptions of parents regarding sex education in schools
• Investigating the experiences of immigrant families in the education system
• Understanding the impact of trauma on mental health outcomes
• Exploring the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy for individuals with anxiety
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful intergenerational relationships
• Investigating the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of online gaming on social skills development among adolescents
• Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding technology integration in the classroom
• Analyzing the experiences of women in leadership positions
• Investigating the factors that contribute to successful marriage and long-term relationships
• Understanding the impact of social media on political participation
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with mental health disorders in the criminal justice system
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for youth development
• Investigating the experiences of veterans in accessing mental health services
• Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood obesity prevention
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful multicultural education programs
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of poverty on academic achievement
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee retention strategies
• Investigating the experiences of caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease
• Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent sexual behavior
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health services on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in the workplace
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of mentorship on career success
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-based programs for mental health
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of social media on romantic relationships
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding child discipline strategies
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cross-cultural communication in the workplace
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on healthcare delivery
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing loss in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful parent-teacher communication
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health outcomes
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding alcohol and drug use on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentor-mentee relationships
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of work-family balance on employee satisfaction and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in vocational rehabilitation programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management in the construction industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in peer support groups
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction and mental health
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood nutrition
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful environmental sustainability initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of job stress on employee burnout and turnover
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in recreational activities
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful strategic planning in nonprofit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with hoarding disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of culture on leadership styles and effectiveness
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual health education on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management in the retail industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of multiculturalism on group dynamics in the workplace
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful employee engagement strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with internet addiction disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of social comparison on body dissatisfaction and self-esteem
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood sleep habits
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of job crafting on employee motivation and job satisfaction
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with vision impairments in navigating public spaces
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer relationship management strategies in the service industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative amnesia in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural intelligence on intercultural communication and collaboration
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus diversity and inclusion efforts
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of transformational leadership on organizational performance and employee well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with mobility impairments in public transportation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful talent management strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in harm reduction programs
• Understanding the impact of gratitude practices on well-being and resilience
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health and well-being
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful corporate social responsibility initiatives in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of emotional labor on job stress and burnout
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in healthcare settings
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer experience strategies in the hospitality industry
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with gender dysphoria in gender-affirming healthcare
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural negotiation in the global marketplace
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic stress and mental health
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain agility in organizations
• Understanding the impact of music therapy on mental health and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in educational settings
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in nonprofit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in online support groups
• Understanding the impact of exercise on mental health and well-being
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management strategies in organizations
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on international business negotiations
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with hearing impairments in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in corporate settings
• Understanding the impact of technology on communication in romantic relationships
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for local governments
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of financial stress on mental health and well-being
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful mentorship programs in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling addictions in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood education
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful virtual team management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative identity disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in healthcare settings
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community-building strategies in urban neighborhoods
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with alcohol use disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of personality traits on romantic relationships
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for political campaigns
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with traumatic brain injuries in rehabilitation programs
• Understanding the impact of social support on mental health and well-being among the elderly
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in medical treatment decision-making processes
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful innovation strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on cross-cultural communication in education settings
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood physical activity
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in family relationships
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with opioid use disorders in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of emotional intelligence on leadership effectiveness
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with learning disabilities in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful change management in educational institutions
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in recovery support groups
• Understanding the impact of self-compassion on mental health and well-being
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding campus safety and security measures
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with postpartum depression in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of ageism in the workplace
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with dyslexia in the education system
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of socioeconomic status on access to healthcare
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood screen time usage
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain management strategies
• Understanding the impact of parenting styles on child development
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with addiction in harm reduction programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful crisis management strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with trauma in trauma-focused therapy programs
• Examining the perceptions of healthcare providers regarding patient-centered care
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful product development strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in employment programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural competence on healthcare outcomes
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in healthcare navigation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful community engagement strategies for non-profit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with physical disabilities in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain sustainability strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with personality disorders in dialectical behavior therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of gender identity on mental health treatment seeking behaviors
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia in community-based treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project team management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder in exposure and response prevention therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural competence on academic achievement and success
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding academic integrity
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful social media marketing strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with bipolar disorder in community-based treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness on academic achievement and success
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in medication-assisted treatment programs
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in exposure therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of healthcare disparities on health outcomes
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain optimization strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in schema therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of culture on perceptions of mental health stigma
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with trauma in art therapy programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful digital marketing strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in online support groups
• Understanding the impact of workplace bullying on job satisfaction and performance
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health resources on campus
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful supply chain risk management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in mindfulness-based pain management programs
• Understanding the impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder
• Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with eating disorders in treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful leadership in business organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in cognitive-behavioral therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of cultural differences on intercultural communication
• Examining the perceptions of teachers regarding inclusive education for students with disabilities
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with depression in therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of workplace culture on employee retention and turnover
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with traumatic brain injuries in rehabilitation programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful crisis communication strategies in organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with anxiety disorders in mindfulness-based interventions
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in healthcare settings
• Understanding the impact of technology on work-life balance
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with learning disabilities in academic settings
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful entrepreneurship in small businesses
• Understanding the impact of gender identity on mental health and well-being
• Examining the perceptions of individuals with disabilities regarding accessibility in public spaces
• Understanding the impact of religion on coping strategies for stress and anxiety
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in complementary and alternative medicine treatments
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer retention strategies in business organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with postpartum depression in therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of ageism on older adults in healthcare settings
• Examining the perceptions of students regarding online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in virtual work environments
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with gambling disorders in treatment programs
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in peer support groups
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful social media marketing strategies for businesses
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with ADHD in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of sleep on cognitive and emotional functioning
• Examining the perceptions of individuals with chronic illnesses regarding healthcare access and affordability
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with borderline personality disorder in dialectical behavior therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of social support on caregiver well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in disability activism
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful cultural competency training programs in healthcare settings
• Understanding the impact of personality disorders on interpersonal relationships
• Examining the perceptions of healthcare providers regarding the use of telehealth services
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with dissociative disorders in therapy programs
• Understanding the impact of gender bias in hiring practices
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with visual impairments in the workplace
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful diversity and inclusion programs in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of online dating on romantic relationships
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood vaccination
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful communication in healthcare settings
• Understanding the impact of cultural stereotypes on academic achievement
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with substance use disorders in sober living programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful classroom management strategies
• Understanding the impact of social support on addiction recovery
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding mental health stigma
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in the workplace
• Understanding the impact of race and ethnicity on healthcare access and outcomes
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder in treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful project management strategies
• Understanding the impact of teacher-student relationships on academic achievement
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful customer service strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with social anxiety disorder in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of workplace stress on job satisfaction and performance
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities in sports and recreation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful marketing strategies for small businesses
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with phobias in treatment programs
• Understanding the impact of culture on attitudes towards mental health and illness
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding sexual assault prevention
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful time management strategies
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with addiction in recovery support groups
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness on emotional regulation and well-being
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in treatment programs
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful conflict resolution in romantic relationships
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in social skills training programs
• Understanding the impact of parent-child communication on adolescent substance use
• Examining the perceptions of parents regarding childhood mental health services
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful fundraising strategies for non-profit organizations
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic illnesses in support groups
• Understanding the impact of personality traits on career success and satisfaction
• Exploring the experiences of individuals with disabilities in accessing public transportation
• Analyzing the factors that contribute to successful team building in sports teams
• Investigating the experiences of individuals with chronic pain in alternative medicine treatments
• Understanding the impact of stigma on mental health treatment seeking behaviors
• Examining the perceptions of college students regarding diversity and inclusion on campus.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

200+ Funny Research Topics

500+ Sports Research Topics

300+ American History Research Paper Topics

500+ Cyber Security Research Topics

500+ Environmental Research Topics

500+ Economics Research Topics

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

Diverse Cultures and Shared Experiences Shape Asian American Identities

About six-in-ten feel connected to other asians in the u.s., table of contents.

• The making of Asian American identity and knowledge of Asian history in the U.S.
• Immigrant ties shape Asian Americans' identities and their life in the U.S.
• Asians in the U.S. share similar views among themselves and with the U.S. public on what it means to be American
• How Asians in the U.S. describe their identity
• Asian adults and the general public agree: U.S. Asians have many different cultures
• Whom do U.S. Asians consider Asian?
• A majority of Asian adults say others would describe them as Asian when walking past them on the street
• For many Asian adults, where they were born shapes friendships formed in the U.S.
• Most Asian adults are comfortable with intermarriage
• Some Asians say they have hidden their heritage
• Connections with other Asian Americans, politics and political parties
• Need for a national leader advancing the concerns of Asian Americans
• Asian American registered voters and political party
• About one-quarter of Asian adults say they are informed about U.S. Asian history
• What being ‘truly American’ means to U.S. Asians
• Fewer than half of U.S. Asians consider themselves typical Americans
• What do Asian Americans view as important for the American dream?
• Most Asian adults say the American dream is within reach, but about a quarter say they will never achieve it
• Acknowledgments
• Sample design
• Data collection
• Weighting and variance estimation
• Largest origin groups
• Educational attainment
• Immigration status
• Length of time living in the U.S. among immigrants
• Citizenship status among immigrants

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand the rich diversity of people of Asian origin or ancestry living in the United States and their views of identity. The study is part of the Center’s multiyear, comprehensive, in-depth quantitative and qualitative research effort focused on the nation’s Asian population. Its centerpiece is this nationally representative survey of 7,006 Asian adults exploring the experiences, attitudes and views of Asians living in the U.S. The survey sampled U.S. adults who self-identify as Asian, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic ethnicity. It was offered in six languages: Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), English, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. Responses were collected from July 5, 2022, to Jan. 27, 2023, by Westat on behalf of Pew Research Center.

The Center recruited a large sample to examine the diversity of the U.S. Asian population, with oversamples of the Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese populations. These are the five largest origin groups among Asian Americans. The survey also includes a large enough sample of self-identified Japanese adults, making findings about them reportable. In this report, the six largest ethnic groups include those who identify with one Asian ethnicity only, either alone or in combination with a non-Asian race or ethnicity. Together, these six groups constitute 81% of all U.S. Asian adults, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey (ACS), and are the six groups whose attitudes and opinions are highlighted throughout the report. Survey respondents were drawn from a national sample of residential mailing addresses, which included addresses from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Specialized surnames list frames maintained by the Marketing Systems Group were used to supplement the sample. Those eligible to complete the survey were offered the opportunity to do so online or by mail with a paper questionnaire. For more details, see the Methodology . For questions used in this analysis, see the Topline Questionnaire .

The survey research plan and questionnaire were reviewed and approved by Westat’s institutional review board (IRB), which is an external and independent committee of experts specializing in protecting the rights of research participants.

Even though the U.S. Asian population was the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the country from 2000 to 2019 , it is still a relatively small population. According to the 2021 American Community Survey, the country’s Asian population constitutes 7% of the U.S. population (of all ages) and 7% of adults (those ages 18 and older).

Pew Research Center designed this study with these details in mind to be as inclusive as possible of the diversity of Asian American experiences. Even so, survey research is limited when it comes to documenting the views and attitudes of the less populous Asian origin groups in the U.S. To address this, the survey was complemented by 66 pre-survey focus groups of Asian adults , conducted from Aug. 4 to Oct. 14, 2021, with 264 recruited participants from 18 Asian origin groups. Focus group discussions were conducted in 18 different languages and moderated by members of their origin groups.

Findings for less populous Asian origin groups in the U.S., those who are not among the six largest Asian origin groups, are grouped under the category “Other” in this report and are included in the overall Asian adult findings in the report. These ethnic origin groups each make up about 2% or less of the Asian population in the U.S., making it challenging to recruit nationally representative samples for each origin group. The group “Other” includes those who identify with one Asian ethnicity only, either alone or in combination with a non-Asian race or Hispanic ethnicity. Findings for those who identify with two or more Asian ethnicities are not presented by themselves in this report but are included in the overall Asian adult findings.

To learn more about how members of less populous Asian origin groups in the U.S. identify, see the quote sorter based on our focus group discussions. There, you can read how participants describe their identity in their own words.

For this analysis, an additional national survey of 5,132 U.S. adults was conducted from Dec. 5 to 11, 2022, using Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel . The survey of U.S. adults was conducted in English and Spanish. Respondents are recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses.

Pew Research Center has conducted multiple studies that focus on Asian Americans. Previous demographic studies examined the diversity of origins , key facts , and rising income inequality among Asians living in the U.S. and key findings about U.S. immigrants. Qualitative studies have focused on what it means to be Asian in America as well as barriers to English language learning among Asian immigrants. Previous surveys have focused on concerns over discrimination and violence against Asian Americans, as well as studies about their religious beliefs . Find these publications and more on the Center’s Asian Americans topic page .

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. The Center’s Asian American portfolio was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from The Asian American Foundation; Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Henry Luce Foundation; the Doris Duke Foundation; The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Long Family Foundation; Lu-Hebert Fund; Gee Family Foundation; Joseph Cotchett; the Julian Abdey and Sabrina Moyle Charitable Fund; and Nanci Nishimura.

We would also like to thank the Leaders Forum for its thought leadership and valuable assistance in helping make this survey possible.

The strategic communications campaign used to promote the research was made possible with generous support from the Doris Duke Foundation.

The terms Asian, Asians living in the United States , U.S. Asian population and Asian Americans are used interchangeably throughout this report to refer to U.S. adults who self-identify as Asian, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic identity.

Ethnicity and ethnic origin labels, such as Chinese and Chinese origin, are used interchangeably in this report for findings for ethnic origin groups, such as Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese. For this report, ethnicity is not nationality. For example, Chinese in this report are those self-identifying as of Chinese ethnicity, rather than necessarily being a current or former citizen of the People’s Republic of China. Ethnic origin groups in this report include those who self-identify as one Asian ethnicity only, either alone or in combination with a non-Asian race or ethnicity.

Less populous Asian origin groups in this report are those who self-identify with ethnic origin groups that are not among the six largest Asian origin groups. The term includes those who identify with only one Asian ethnicity. These ethnic origin groups each represent about 2% or less of the overall Asian population in the U.S. For example, those who identify as Burmese, Hmong or Pakistani are included in this category. These groups are unreportable on their own due to small sample sizes, but collectively they are reportable under this category.

The terms Asian origins and Asian origin groups are used interchangeably throughout this report to describe ethnic origin groups.

Immigrants in this report are people who were not U.S. citizens at birth – in other words, those born outside the U.S., Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories to parents who are not U.S. citizens. I mmigrant , first generation and foreign born are used interchangeably to refer to this group.  

Naturalized citizens are immigrants who are lawful permanent residents who have fulfilled the length of stay and other requirements to become U.S. citizens and who have taken the oath of citizenship.

U.S. born refers to people born in the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories.

Second generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories with at least one first-generation (immigrant) parent.

Third or higher generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories with both parents born in the 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories.

The nation’s Asian population is fast growing and diverse. Numbering more than 23 million, the population has ancestral roots across the vast, ethnically and culturally rich Asian continent. For Asians living in the United States, this diversity is reflected in how they describe their own identity. According to a new, nationwide, comprehensive survey of Asian adults living in the U.S., 52% say they most often use ethnic labels that reflect their heritage and family roots, either alone or together with “American,” to describe themselves. Chinese or Chinese American, Filipino or Filipino American, and Indian or Indian American are examples of these variations.

There are other ways in which Asians living in the U.S. describe their identity. About half (51%) of Asian adults say they use American on its own (10%), together with their ethnicity (25%) or together with “Asian” as Asian American (16%) when describing their identity, highlighting their links to the U.S.

And while pan-ethnic labels such as Asian and Asian American are commonly used to describe this diverse population broadly, the new survey shows that when describing themselves, just 28% use the label Asian (12%) on its own or the label Asian American (16%).

The survey also finds that other labels are used by Asian Americans. Some 6% say they most often prefer regional terms such as South Asian and Southeast Asian when describing themselves.

Asian adults see more cultural differences than commonalities across their group as well. When asked to choose between two statements – that Asians in the U.S. share a common culture, or that Asians in the U.S. have many different cultures – nearly all (90%) say U.S. Asians have many different cultures. Just 9% say Asians living in the U.S. share a common culture. This view is widely held across many demographic groups among Asian Americans, according to the survey.

The view that Asian Americans have many different cultures is also one held by the general public, according to another Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults, conducted in December 2022. Among all U.S. adults, 80% say Asians in the U.S. have many different cultures, while 18% say they share a common culture. 1

Though Asian Americans’ identities reflect their diverse cultures and origins, Asian adults also report certain shared experiences. A majority (60%) say most people would describe them as “Asian” while walking past them on the street, indicating most Asian adults feel they are seen by others as a single group, despite the population’s diversity. One-in-five say they have hidden a part of their heritage (their ethnic food, cultural practices, ethnic clothing or religious practices) from others who are not Asian, in some cases out of fear of embarrassment or discrimination. Notably, Asian adults ages 18 to 29 are more likely to say they have done this than Asians 65 and older (39% vs. 5%).

Asian adults in the U.S. also feel connected with other Asian Americans. About six-in-ten (59%) say that what happens to Asians in the U.S. affects their own lives, at least to some extent. 2 And about two-thirds (68%) of Asian Americans say it is extremely or very important to have a national leader advocating for the concerns and needs of the Asian population in the U.S.

The new survey also shows that large majorities of Asian adults share similar views on what it takes to be considered truly American. And they consider many of the same factors to be important in their views of the American dream.

These are among the key findings from Pew Research Center’s new survey of Asian American adults, conducted by mail and online from July 5, 2022, to Jan. 27, 2023. This is the largest nationally representative survey of its kind to date that focused on Asian Americans. The survey was conducted in English and five Asian languages, among a representative sample of 7,006 Asian adults living in the United States. 

Asian Americans are 7% of the U.S. population, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey. Their population is diverse, with roots in more than 20 countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. About 54% of the national Asian population are immigrants. The six largest origin groups (Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese), a focus of this survey and report, together account for 79% of all Asian Americans.

Overall, about 34% of Asian Americans are the U.S.-born children of immigrant parents, and another 14% are of third or higher generation (meaning their parents were born in the U.S. as well), according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the 2022 Current Population Survey, March Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

This survey and report focus on Asian adults in the U.S. The six largest origin groups together account for 81% of Asian adults. And 68% of Asian American adults are immigrants, according to Center analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey. Additionally, 25% are the U.S.-born children of immigrant parents and 10% are of third or higher generation, according to Center analysis of government data.

The pan-ethnic term “Asian American” emerged in Berkeley, California, in the 1960s as part of a political movement to organize the diverse U.S. Asian population. The creation of an Asian American identity was in reaction to a long history of exclusion of Asians in the country, including the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and a pair of Supreme Court cases in the 1920s clarifying that Asians, including South Asians, are not “free White persons” and therefore were excluded from becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. 3 Subsequently, the term was adopted by the federal government and today is the principal identity label used by media, academics, researchers and others to describe today’s diverse Asian American population.

In most cases today, someone is considered Asian or Asian American if they self-identify as such. But Asian Americans do not necessarily agree on which regional or ethnic groups from the Asian continent they consider to be Asian, according to the new survey. The vast majority of Asian adults say they consider those from East Asia, such as Chinese or Koreans (89%); Southeast Asia, such as Vietnamese or Filipinos (88%); and to a lesser extent South Asia such as Indians or Pakistanis (67%) to be Asian.

But Asian adults are split on whether they consider Central Asians such as Afghans or Kazakhs to be Asian (43% of Asian adults say they are). While about half of Indian adults (56%) say they would include Central Asians in the category Asian, fewer than half of Filipino (40%), Chinese (39%), Japanese (34%), Korean (32%) and Vietnamese (30%) adults consider them Asian.

Few Asians say they are knowledgeable about U.S. Asian history

Asian Americans have a long history in the United States. From Chinese laborers who helped build the first transcontinental railroad, to Japanese immigrants who arrived as plantation workers in what is now the state of Hawaii, to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, to Filipinos being treated as U.S. nationals while the Philippines was a U.S. territory, the Asian American experience has been a part of U.S. history.

With the passage of the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, a new wave of immigrants from Asia began arriving in the United States, creating a new, contemporary U.S. Asian history. The Vietnam War and other conflicts in Southeast Asia brought Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian refugees to the U.S. , first with the passage of the 1975 Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act and then with the Refugee Act of 1980. The 1990 Immigration Act raised immigration ceilings and set in place processes that allowed the flows of Asian immigrants, particularly of high-skilled immigrants, to continue and expand. The U.S. technology boom of the 1990s and 2000s attracted many high-skilled immigrants, particularly from India and China, to tech centers around the country.

This rich history, however, is little-known to Asian adults, according to the new survey. One-in-four (24%) say they are very or extremely informed about history of Asians in the United States, while an equal share (24%) say they are little or not at all informed.

The majority of those very or extremely informed about the history of Asians in the U.S. say they learned about this history through informal channels: internet (82%), media (76%) and family and friends (70%). In contrast, 49% learned about it from college or university courses and 39% from elementary through high school.

Immigrant ties shape Asian Americans’ identities and their life in the U.S.

Immigration experiences, connections with home countries, and how long someone has lived in the U.S. shape many Asian Americans’ identities. Among Asian adults in the U.S., immigrants are more likely than those who are U.S. born to describe their identity most often with their ethnic labels, either alone or together with the label American (56% vs. 41%).

Meanwhile, Asian immigrants are less likely than U.S.-born Asians (46% vs. 65%) to say they most often describe themselves as American in some way – whether by their ethnic label combined with American, as Asian American, or simply as American. Still, nearly half of Asian immigrants describe themselves in one of these three ways.

When it comes to identifying with the label Asian – either alone or as Asian American – immigrant and U.S.-born Asians are about equally likely to say they do so (28% and 29% respectively). Immigrant Asians are less likely than U.S.-born Asians to identify most often as Asian American (14% vs. 21%).

On the question of seeing themselves more as a “typical American” or “very different from a typical American,” Asian immigrant adults are far less likely than those born in the U.S. to think of themselves as a typical American (37% vs. 69%).

Nativity is also tied to how Asians in the U.S. develop their friendships. Those who immigrated to the U.S. are more likely to have friends who are Asian or of the same ethnicity as them than are U.S.-born Asians (56% vs. 38%).

Asian immigrants (15%) are also less likely than U.S.-born Asians (32%) to have ever hidden a part of their heritage from people who are not Asian. When asked in an open-ended question to explain why they hide aspects of their culture, some U.S.-born respondents mentioned phrases such as “fear of discrimination,” “being teased” and “embarrassing.”

Views of identity among Asian American immigrants are often tied to time spent in the U.S.

How long Asian immigrants have lived in the U.S. also shapes their identity and experiences. Those who arrived in the U.S. in the past 10 years are more likely than those who arrived more than 20 years ago to say they most often use their ethnicity, such as Filipino or Vietnamese, to describe themselves. And about two-thirds (65%) of those who arrived in the U.S. in the past decade describe their identity most often with their ethnicity’s name, either alone or combined with American, compared with 54% among those who have been in the country for more than two decades.

Roughly half (54%) of those who have arrived in the past 10 years say they most often use only their ethnicity to describe themselves, compared with just 21% of those who arrived more than two decades ago who say the same.

On the other hand, just 17% of Asian immigrants who arrived in the country in the past 10 years describe themselves most often as American, by their ethnic label combined with American, or as Asian American, while 59% of those who arrived more than 20 years ago do so.

When it comes to their circle of friends, 60% of Asian immigrants who arrived in the past 10 years say most or all of their friends are also Asian Americans, while 50% of those who arrived more than 20 years ago say the same.

And when asked if they think of themselves as typical Americans or not, Asian immigrants who arrived in the U.S. in the past decade are substantially less likely than those who arrived more than two decades ago to say they are typical Americans (20% vs. 48%).

The new survey also explored the views Asian Americans have about traits that make one “truly American.” Overall, Asian Americans and the general U.S. population share similar views of what it means to be American. Nearly all Asian adults and U.S. adults say that accepting people of diverse racial and religious backgrounds (94% and 91%), believing in individual freedoms (92% and 94%) and respecting U.S. political institutions and laws (89% and 87%) are important for being truly American.

Similarly, Asian Americans and the U.S. general population share in their views about the American dream. They say having freedom of choice in how to live one’s life (96% and 97% respectively), having a good family life (96% and 94%), retiring comfortably (96% and 94%) and owning a home (both 86%) are important to their view of the American dream. Smaller shares of Asian and U.S. adults (30% and 27%) say owning a business is important to their view of the American dream.

Here are other survey findings highlighting the diverse views and attitudes of Asian adults living in the U.S.:

• Indian adults are the most likely of the six largest Asian origin groups to say they most often use their ethnicity, without the addition of “American,” to describe themselves. About four-in-ten Indian adults (41%) say they do this. By comparison, smaller shares of Korean (30%), Filipino (29%), Chinese (26%) and Vietnamese (23%) adults do the same. Japanese adults (14%) are the least likely among the largest groups to use their ethnic identity term alone.
• Japanese adults are the least likely among the largest Asian origin groups to say they have friendships with other Asians. About one-in-three Japanese adults (34%) say most or all their friends share their own ethnicity or are otherwise Asian. By contrast, about half of all Indian (55%), Vietnamese (55%), Chinese (51%), Korean (50%) and Filipino (48%) respondents say the same.
• One-in-four Korean adults (25%) say they have hidden part of their heritage from people who are not Asian. Some 20% of Indian, 19% of Chinese, 18% of Vietnamese, 16% of Filipino and 14% of Japanese adults say they have done the same.
• Across the largest ethnic groups, about half or more say that what happens to Asians in the U.S. affects what happens in their own lives. About two-thirds of Korean (67%) and Chinese (65%) adults say this. By comparison, 61% of Japanese, 54% of Filipino, 55% of Indian and 52% of Vietnamese adults say they are impacted by what happens to Asians nationally.
• Most Asian adults among the largest ethnic origin groups say a national leader advancing the U.S. Asian community’s concerns is important. Roughly three-in-four Filipino (74%) and Chinese (73%) adults say it is very or extremely important to for the U.S. Asian community to have a national leader advancing its concerns. A majority of Vietnamese (69%), Korean (66%), Japanese (63%) and Indian adults (62%) says the same.  
• About half of Vietnamese registered voters (51%) identify with or lean to the Republican Party. In contrast, about two-thirds of Indian (68%), Filipino (68%) and Korean (67%) registered voters identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party. And 56% of Chinese registered voters also associate with the Democratic Party. 
• This finding is from a nationally representative survey of 5,132 U.S. adults conducted by Pew Research Center from Dec. 5 to 11, 2022, using the Center’s American Trends Panel . ↩
• In recent years, a major source of concern and fear among many Asian adults in the U.S. has been the rise in reported violence against Asian Americans . ↩
• For more on the history of the creation of an Asian American identity, see Lee, Jennifer and Karthick Ramakrishnan. 2019. “ Who counts as Asian .” Ethnic and Racial Studies. ↩

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

• Asian Americans
• Immigrant Populations
• Integration & Identity
• Racial & Ethnic Identity
• Racial Bias & Discrimination

Key facts about Asian Americans living in poverty

Methodology: 2023 focus groups of asian americans, 1 in 10: redefining the asian american dream (short film), the hardships and dreams of asian americans living in poverty, key facts about asian american eligible voters in 2024, most popular, report materials.

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Age & Generations
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Economy & Work
• Family & Relationships
• Gender & LGBTQ
• Immigration & Migration
• International Affairs
• Internet & Technology
• Methodological Research
• News Habits & Media
• Non-U.S. Governments
• Other Topics
• Politics & Policy
• Race & Ethnicity
• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Cookie Settings

Reprints, Permissions & Use Policy