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14 Int'l Migration Rev. 3 (1980)

handle is hein.journals/imgratv14 and id is 1 raw text is: Step-Wise Migration: Toward A Clarification of the Mechanism Dennis Conway Indiana University There exists a state of confusion in the migration literature over the concept of step-wise migration. Inconsistencies occur in the specifi- cation of the scale at which the process operates and there are a host of alternative definitions of what constitutes a step-wise progression. This article presents an operational definition of step-wise migra- tion that appears consistent from both conceptual and methodologi- cal points of view. The notion of step-wise migration which implies a spatial relocation by steps or stages from a migrant's origin (invariably a rural home place) to an intended destination (invariably an urban center), is a concept that has generated considerable empirical work and theoretical argument since Ravenstein's initial statements on migration laws (HAgerstrand, 1957; Harvey and Riddell, .1975; Lee, 1966; Olsson, 1965; Ravenstein, 1885, 1889). Unfortunately, clarity has not emerged as a consequence of this volume of endeavor. Instead, a variety of approaches have been used to estimate the incidence of step-by-step movements, as often as not, without a clear specification of the step-wise migration process under examina- tion. There have been alternative and often incompatible specifications of the scale at which the process operates. In short, a clarification is in order. The discussion that follows is concerned with the specification and measurement of step-wise migration in the anticipation that such a clarification will enhance understanding and aid future migration re- search. It is argued here that geographically similar step-wise patterns of migration are best distinguished on the basis of locational choices made by individual households. This not only lays bare the inherent ambigu- ities in the concept as a process with spatial and hierarchical components, but enables an operational definition of step-wise migration to be pre- sented which is consistent from both conceptual and methodological points of view. First, it is necessary to trace how the present confusion exists in the specification of step-wise migration. IMR Volume 14 No. 1 3

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