This data will allow the Council and community leaders to identify trends and the problems and priorities of the Portuguese-American community, according to researcher Dulce Maria Scott, from Anderson University.

“This research will give us data that we cannot obtain anywhere else,” said the academic, explaining that the areas of focus are those that are not included in the American Community Survey (ACS), conducted by the Census office.

“They have data on demographics and socioeconomic variables”, she detailed, “but they do not include questions about the connections that people have with their culture, their community and Portugal”.

The first Index was carried out in 2017 without a representative sample and the second took place between 2019 and 2020. Now, with the introduction of new questions and removal of others, the team hopes to obtain between 1,500 and 2,000 responses representative of the population of Portuguese origin in the USA, which is around 1.4 million.

“We are using social media and working with organisations and universities to reach the desired quota,” said Dulce Scott, noting that it is easier to receive responses from California than from Massachusetts, for example.

Trends

One of the objectives is to understand what trends are happening in the various generations of Portuguese, among immigrants, children and grandchildren of immigrants born in the USA and so on.

“It is very important to trace the integration of Portuguese-Americans into American society” and “understand whether they are maintaining their distinctive communities, their culture”, she highlighted.

For the Luso-American Council, it is also interesting to identify which are the most prominent social problems in the communities and which are the 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?”, said Scott.

“PALCUS is looking for issues where it can take action, or assist others to do so, to maintain the distinctive culture and organizational structure of the diaspora, which was created by the immigrant generation” in the United States, she added.

The topic has gained importance due to the substantial decline in Portuguese emigration to the USA and the passing of testimony to those who were already born in the country.

“It is not only useful for PALCUS, there are many organisations at local and state level that can benefit from this information”, said the academic.

For example, if people say they want more political representation of Portuguese-Americans, then organizations can invest in electing politicians of Portuguese origin, she said.

Politics

One of the new questions is about political orientation, from “liberal” to “conservative” or “neutral” (but not who the person votes for).

“The importance of this issue emerged because people were questioning the position of the Portuguese community”, she described.

Another new issue is about people's involvement in their communities, such as belonging to organisations and participating in cultural events.

The survey has 49 questions, twenty fewer than the previous edition, and is organised in such a way as to be intuitive and prevent people from giving up halfway through.

Taking place online, via the link www.buff.ly/3Ujv4NJ , the survey will be open for a few months until a representative sample is reached.

Dulce Scott said that the intention is to present the results before or at the time of the 26th PALCUS gala, which will take place on October 12.