PALCUS launches survey to assess Portuguese-American communities’ concerns and priorities
WASHINGTON - The Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS) has launched the third edition of its PALCUS Index-National Community Survey with the aim to obtain detailed information about Portuguese-American communities across the nation, including their input on a variety of community-related topics as well as connections to Portugal.
The collected data will allow PALCUS and community leaders to identify trends, issues of concern and priorities in the different Portuguese-American communities, according to Dr. Dulce Maria Scott, the chair of the Department of Social Work at Anderson University and a professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, who will analyze the survey results.
“This research will give us data that we cannot obtain anywhere else,” said Dr. Scott, explaining the PALCUS survey focuses on areas which are not included in the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“They have data on demographics and socioeconomic variables,” she added. “But they do not include questions about the connections that people have with their culture, their community and Portugal.”
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The first PALCUS Index was carried out in 2017 without a representative sample. The second PALCUS Index took place between 2019 and 2020.
For the third survey, new questions were introduced, and some previous ones were removed.
PALCUS hopes to receive at least 1,500 to 2,000 responses in order to have an adequate representation of the population of Portuguese origin in the United States, which hovers 1,4 million according to the latest Census.
“We are using social media and working with organizations and universities to reach the desired quota,” informed Dr. Scott.
One of the goals is to understand what trends are happening among the various generations of Portuguese-Americans, she said.
“It is very important to trace the integration of Portuguese-Americans into American society,” she said. “Understand whether they are maintaining their distinctive communities, their culture.”
For PALCUS, it is also important to identify the most prominent social issues in the various communities and their priorities in terms of investment of time and resources.
“Do you want more Portuguese classes? Do you want to build monuments or things related to Portuguese cultural heritage?,” she noted.
In previous surveys, respondents said they were concerned about the ability to maintain community organizations for generations to come.
“PALCUS is looking for issues where it can take action, or assist others to do so, to maintain the distinct culture and organizational structure of the diaspora,” Dr. Scott added.
This topic is of increasing relevance due to the substantial decline in Portuguese immigration to the United States and the torch is being passed to those who were already born in this country.
“This [index] is not only useful to PALCUS,” she said. “There are many organizations at the local and state level that can benefit from this information.”
The PALCUS survey has 49 questions, 20 fewer than the previous edition.
According to PALCUS officials, the third edition was conceived to be intuitive and prevent people from giving up halfway through. It was designed to take approximately 10 minutes to complete, and responses will be kept strictly confidential and reported only in aggregate form.
To complete the PALCUS survey, visit www.buff.ly/3Ujv4NJ.
The survey page will remain open for a few months until a representative sample is reached.
Dr. Scott said that the intention is to present the survey results before or at the time of the 26th PALCUS Gala, which will take place Oct. 12 in Cambridge, Mass.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: PALCUS launches national Portuguese-American Community survey
