Abstract

This paper projects school enrollments in Santa Ana, California and evaluates the accuracy of the projections. It emphasizes the distinctive aspects of a local setting undergoing substantial immigrant influx and highlights the uncertainties that must be addressed. I adapt existing forecasting approaches to such local situations, match assumptions to future unknowns, and devise “early warning” thresholds keyed to timely decision making. This hybrid approach offers forecasters a useful point of departure in local settings dominated by wide margins of uncertainty and inherently risky assumptions.

The text of this article is only available as a PDF.

References

Alba, R.D., Logan, J.R., Stults, B.J., Marzan, G., & Zhang, W. (
1999
).
Immigrant Groups in the Suburbs: A Reexamination of Suburbanization and Spatial Assimilation
.
American Sociological Review
,
64
,
446
60
. 10.2307/2657495
Allen, J.P., & Turner, E. (
1997
).
The Ethnic Quilt
.
Northridge
:
Center for Geographical Studies, California State University, Northridge
.
Amato, J.A., & Meyer, J.W. (
1997
).
To Call It Home: The New Immigrants of Southwestern Minnesota
.
Marshall, MN
:
Crossings Press
.
Ascher, W. (
1978
).
Forecasting: An Appraisal for Policy-Makers and Planners
.
Baltimore
:
Johns Hopkins University Press
.
Ascher, W. (
1981
).
The Forecasting Potential of Complex Models
.
Policy Sciences
,
13
,
247
67
. 10.1007/BF00138485
Camp, R. (
1993
).
Politics in Mexico
.
New York
:
Oxford University Press
.
Refugee Immigration to California, 1990–1994: A Summary in Tables
. (
1996
).
Sacramento
:
California Department of Finance
.
Actual and Projected Births by County, 1970–2006, With Births by Age of Mother and Fertility Rates
. (
1996
).
Sacramento
:
California Department of Finance
.
County Population Estimates and Components of Change, 1995–1996, With Historical Estimates, 1990–1995
. (
1997
).
Sacramento
:
California Department of Finance
.
itCalifornia Public K-12 Enrollment Projections by Ethnicity: 1997 Series
. (
1997
).
Sacramento
:
California Department of Finance
.
Legal Immigration to California in Federal Fiscal Year 1996
. (
1999
).
Sacramento
:
California Department of Finance
.
Dewar, J.A., Builder, C.H., Hix, W.M., & Levin, M.H. (
1993
).
Assumption-Based Planning: A Planning Tool for Very Uncertain Times
.
Santa Monica
:
RAND
.
Dunnigan, T., Olney, D.P., McNall , M.A., & Spring, M.A. (
1997
).
Hmong
. In D.W. Haines (Ed.),
Case Studies in Diversity: Refugees in America in the 1990s
(pp.
145
66
).
Westport, CT
:
Praeger
.
Goering, J.M. (
1989
).
International Migration Review
,
23
,
797
812
. 10.2307/2546462
D.W. Haines (
1997
).
Case Studies in Diversity: Refugees in America in the 1990s
.
Westport, CT
:
Praeger
.
“In Santa Ana, Mexican Villagers Re-Created Community.” 1997. Los Angeles Times, August 4, p. 1.
Jones, R.C. (
1982
).
Economic Geography
,
58
,
156
76
. 10.2307/143794
R. Kling, S. Olin, & M. Poster (
1991
).
Posturban California: The Transformation of Orange County Since World War II
.
Berkeley
:
University of California Press
.
Lindstrom, D.P. (
1996
).
Economic Opportunity in Mexico and Return Migration From the United States
.
Demography
,
33
,
357
74
. 10.2307/2061767
Liu, J.M., Ong, P.M., & Rosenstein, C. (
1991
).
Dual Chain Migration: Post-1965 Filipino Immigration to the United States
.
International Migration Review
,
25
,
487
513
. 10.2307/2546757
Massey, D.S., & Espinosa, K.E. (
1997
).
What’s Driving Mexico-U.S. Migration? A Theoretical, Empirical, and Policy Analysis
.
American Journal of Sociology
,
102
,
939
99
. 10.1086/231037
Massey, D.S., Goldring, L., & Durand, J. (
1994
).
Continuities in Transnational Migration: An Analysis of Nineteen Mexican Communities
.
American Journal of Sociology
,
99
,
1492
1533
. 10.1086/230452
Myers, D., Baer, W.C., & Choi, S.-Y. (
1996
).
The Changing Problem of Overcrowded Housing
.
Journal of the American Planning Association
,
62
(
1
),
66
84
. 10.1080/01944369608975671
Myers, D., & Lee, S.W. (
1996
).
Immigration Cohorts and Residential Overcrowding in Southern California
.
Demography
,
33
,
51
65
. 10.2307/2061713
Orange County Health Care Agency. 1996. Tabulations of births by Orange County census tracts. Unpublished documents.
Perry, M. and P. Voss. 1996. “Using Geo-Demographic Methods for Improving Small Area Estimates.” Presented at the annual meetings of the Population Association of America, May 11, New Orleans.
Phillips, J.A., & Massey, D.S. (
2000
).
Engines of Immigration: Stocks of Human and Social Capital in Mexico
.
Social Science Quarterly
,
81
(
1
),
33
48
.
Plane, D.A., & Mulligan, G.F. (
1997
).
Measuring Spatial Focusing in a Migration System
.
Demography
,
34
,
251
62
. 10.2307/2061703
Rodriguez, C.E. (
1989
).
Puerto Ricans Born in the U.S.A
.
Boulder
:
Westview
.
Rubin-Kurtzman, J.R., Ham-Chande, R., & Van Arsdol, M.D. (
1996
).
Population in Trans-Border Regions: The Southern California-Baja California Urban System
.
International Migration Review
,
30
,
1020
45
. 10.2307/2547602
Stull, D.D., Broadway, M.J., & Erickson, K.C. (
1992
).
The Price of a Good Steak: Beef Packing and Its Consequences for Garden City, Kansas
. In L. Lamphere (Ed.),
Structuring Diversity
(pp.
35
64
).
Chicago
:
University of Chicago Press
.
Swanson, D.A., & Tayman, J. (
1995
).
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Evaluation of Demographic Forecasts
.
Population Research and Policy Review
,
14
,
233
49
. 10.1007/BF01074460
Taylor, J.E., Martin, P.L., & Fix, M. (
1997
).
Poverty Amid Prosperity: Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural California
.
Washington, DC
:
Urban Institute Press
.
Tayman, J. (
1996
).
The Accuracy of Small-Area Population Forecasts Based on a Spatial Interaction Land-Use Modeling System
.
Journal of the American Planning Association
,
62
(
1
),
85
98
. 10.1080/01944369608975672
Tayman, J., & Swanson, D.A. (
1996
).
On the Utility of Population Forecasts
.
Demography
,
33
,
523
28
. 10.2307/2061785
Tayman, J., & Swanson, D.A. (
1999
).
On the Validity of MAPE as a Measure of Population Forecast Accuracy
.
Population Research and Policy Review
,
18
,
299
322
. 10.1023/A:1006166418051
R. Waldinger, & M. Bozorgmehr (
1996
).
Ethnic Los Angeles
.
New York
:
Russell Sage Foundation
.
Yokum, J., & Armstrong, J. (
1996
).
Beyond Accuracy: Comparison of Criteria Used to Select Forecasting Models
.
International Journal of Forecasting
,
11
,
591
97
. 10.1016/0169-2070(95)00615-X