Alcohol y emigración: Los problemas de medición en la investigación sobre el consumo de alcohol entre inmigrantes marroquíes y turcos

Since most Turks and Moroccans living in The Netherlands are Muslim, and the Islamic religion prescribes abstinence of alcohol, the main determinant of alcohol use seems to be the degree to which live up to islamic rules. This is linked to questions such as the migration history, the sub-cultural background and the degree of integration into the Dutch society. The present article also presents a review of 24 Dutch studies on alcohol use among Turkish and Moroccan migrants and discusses the methodological and conceptual problems that accompany these studies. According to these literature the data are affected by a low reachability of Turks and Moroccans (often resulting in the participation of a selective, non-representative group), unreliable answering tendencies (the Islamic orientation and cultural values of honor and respect may result in underreporting of alcohol use) and language problems. The authors argue that, although several conceptual and methodological difficulties accompany alcohol research among Turkish and Moroccan inhabitants of The Netherlands, the following tendencies seem evident: Turks and Moroccans drink less alcohol than Dutch inhabitants do; alcohol use is higher among Turks than among Moroccans; in the Turkish as well as the Moroccan population, men tend to drink more alcohol than women do, and younger people tend to drink more than older people do.