Measuring Migration from the Republic of Georgia: A Comparison of Three National Surveys

Erin T. Hofmann, University of Texas at Austin

Large-scale out-migration is a fairly recent phenomenon in the Republic of Georgia, and social and political turmoil, as well as the diverse nature of migration flows from the country, have made measurement of migration particularly difficult. Three recent national surveys allow exploration of patterns of international migration from Georgia at the national level: the Caucasus Research Resource Centers Data Initiative (2007), the Development on the Move survey (2008), and the GeoStat migration survey (2008). However, there are notable differences in the estimates of the prevalence of international migration as well as in the demographic characteristics of migrants produced by these three surveys. This paper compares the surveys and assesses their sampling strategies and approaches to measuring migration. I argue that issues of sampling design, representation of ethnic minorities, and differing conceptualizations of “migrant” and “household” across the three surveys explain the differences in results.

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Presented in Session 192: Data and Methods in the Study of Migration, Neighborhoods, and Urbanization