Research
We're using research to tell authentic, nuanced stories that move people to action. Our cutting-edge studies on immigrant advocacy and representation in news, digital, and entertainment media shape all of our work.
Report
Change the Narrative, Change the World 2022
Our groundbreaking television research on immigrant representation with the Norman Lear Center is changing storytelling in Hollywood.
Guide
Telling Authentic Immigrant Stories
See the latest edition of our comprehensive resource for writers, filmmakers, creators, and entertainment professionals who want to tell accurate, humanizing immigrant stories.
Report
Change the Narrative, Change the World
Our groundbreaking television research on immigrant representation with the Norman Lear Center is changing storytelling in Hollywood.
Report
Immigration Nation: Exploring Immigrant Portrayals on Television
Our inaugural study with the Norman Lear Center compares scripted television depictions of immigrants and immigration issues with the reality of the immigrant experience.
Digital Storytelling
Our original research tracks and analyzes anti-immigration narratives on social media.
Report
‘Immigration Will Destroy Us’ and Other Talking Points
The culmination of three years of original research at Define American looking at the impact, tactics, and reach of anti-immigration narratives on YouTube — and tools to fight back.
Toolkit
Popping the Immigration Filter Bubble
In the digital age, we know that effective messaging campaigns online require hyper audience targeting. This guide is a framework for content creators to reach a specific and important digital audience in our fight for the human rights of refugees, migrants, and displaced peoples.
Storyteller Support & Advocacy
We conduct original research with immigrant storytellers to better inform narrative change practices, seeding systemic shifts in the field to center advocates for greater power, agency, and wellbeing.
Report
American Dreaming
The culmination of two years of research with 40 storytellers from the immigrant rights movement who bravely shared their stories through the Obama, Trump, and Biden eras of U.S. history, American Dreaming is a guide to better inform how we work with storytellers.
Report
Reimagining Immigration News: North Carolina's Case for the Nation
The culmination of a one-year research project where Define American wanted to understand how local news consumers respond to media coverage about immigrants in North Carolina as a case study for the nation.
Report
The Language of Immigration Reporting: Normalizing vs. Watchdogging in a Nativist Age
Major U.S. newspapers used dehumanizing labels to refer to immigrants at a steadily increasing rate from 2014 – 2018.