Demographic characteristics of urban Indians

Date
1973
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Abstract
This descriptive study examines the development of an intake questionnaire for urban Indian social services and the development of a functional information and retrieval system. The major emphasis of the study reports the demographic characteristics of urban Indians who have applied for assistance at Calgary Indian Affairs Social Services. The questionnaire was used from October 4, 1972 through February 9, 1973 at Calgary Indian Affairs Social Services. It was administered to all clients on the occasion of their initial visit during this time period. Seven hundred and twenty-nine questionnaires were filled out and a stratified time random sample of 185 of these were used in the analysis reported here. The data from the questionnaires was coded on Hollerith cards and was tabulated by the CDC 6400 Computer, University of Calgary. The specific program used was The Statistical Package for Social Scientists. Subprograms, Codebook, Crosstabs and Breakdown were used to analyze the data. The 25 questions for which specific answers were sought were answered by data contained in forty-seven tables. The answers to the questions were arranged into four areas which came under the general headings: (1) Answers and questions regarding Demographic Characteristics of a sample of urban Indians; (2) Answers to questions regarding Services urban Indians sought from agencies other than Indian Affairs; (3) Answers to questions regarding services given to Indians by Indian Affairs Social Services in Calgary; (4) Answer to the question regarding information for planning of Social Services. The results showed that urban Indians form a heterogeneous group. There are single people, both with and without dependents. There are two parent families and there are separated people with and without de­pendents. Fifty-one percent of the applicants claim no dependents. Thirty-two percent of the applicants indicate they intend to stay less than six months in the city. The data indicates that a diversified approach to social services is needed. The recommendations include three areas: (1) Social Service Policy and Program for urban Indians should take into consideration education, work ethic, family and cultural background of· Indians; (2) Extension of social services should be geared to heterogenous character­istics of the Indian population; (3) Continuation of research on the descriptive level as well as more in-depth evaluative research geared to initiating specific programs.
Description
Bibliography: p. 75-80.
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Citation
Maunula, F. A. (1973). Demographic characteristics of urban Indians (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/23168