Tuesday, September 04, 2012

The Ultimate Resource: Orphanage Data Books

I didn't realize when I began collecting finding ad newspapers in 2002 just how much valuable information they would provide. At that time, orphanages didn’t provide the finding ads to adoptive families; the ads were simply an “internal” procedural artifact required by the Chinese government in order for a child to be internationally adopted. As our collection of finding ad newspapers grew, I began to realize that the information contained in the ads could provide a picture of a different nature, a demographic picture, of an orphanage’s adoption program. By compiling the finding ages, genders, health data, finding location, and even, in some cases, the Chinese names themselves, I was able to draw important conclusions about the children's finding circumstances, such as whether the location was frequently cited by the orphanage, how common a child’s finding age was, and whether there were patterns that displayed non-random findings. With all of the data from a particular orphanage, I found I could compare a single finding—the proverbial “tree”—against the backdrop of the entire “forest” of findings from that orphanage.

Although we are able to synthesize the data from the finding ads into a very informative Birth Parent Search Analysis or Orphanage Reliability Analysis for adoptive families, in those reports we are only able to touch the surface of an orphanage's finding data. We are excited to now be able to offer adoptive families the opportunity to obtain the finding ad data for their child's orphanage as early as 1999, compiled and organized into a beautiful, 6"x9" hardbound book.

Our data books tabulate the information contained in the finding ads for every child submitted for international adoption from that orphanage from either 1999 when the finding ads started, or from when the orphanage joined the international adoption program.

We are currently releasing the books for Guangdong Province, but will have Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Anhui and other Provinces available in 2013. The Orphanage Data Books come complete with beautiful illustrations, a helpful introduction, and a summary of orphanage information that will allow adoptive families to identify other children found at the same finding location or on the same day, detect patterns not covered in our analysis reports, or just possess all of the primary data for their child's orphanage.

Not only will the publication of the records in the Orphanage Data Books be of interest and use to adoptees and their families, the finding ads represent a historical record of the tens of thousands of children adopted internationally from China, much like the immigration records of Ellis Island tell a story of the 12 million people who migrated to the United States between 1892 and 1954. Although of limited importance at the time they were created, the Ellis Island records are now actively mined for individual and collective information by direct descendants of the immigrants.

We are very confident that adoptive families will treasure this record of their child's orphanage for years to come.  

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do we purchase these books?

Research-China.Org said...

You can get more information and order here:

http://www.research-china.org/databooks/index.htm

Anonymous said...

Hi Brian,

Great idea. Is Yunnan one of the provinces that will be available in 2013?

Thanks,
Elizabeth

Research-China.Org said...

We will be doing Hunan orphanages next, then move to Jiangxi, Guangxi, Anhui, etc. There is a good possibility we can then do Yunnan and some of the other "smaller" Provinces.

Brian

Anonymous said...

Please let us know when you have the Jiangxi book available. Thanks Brian.

Anonymous said...

My daughter was born and abandoned in October of 1998, but adopted in early 1999. Any chance you will have information for her?

Research-China.Org said...

The data in the books is taken from the finding ads published by each orphanage. Those ads, for the most part, started in late 1999 for children that were just starting the paperwork. Since you adopted your child in 1999, there was probably no finding ad published for her. Contact me directly and we can double check.

Brian

Samantha said...

Will the Henan Province be available in 2013?

Thanks,
Samantha

Research-China.Org said...

I hope so.

Brian

Anonymous said...

Do these books have the photos, as well?

Research-China.Org said...

Space prevents publishing all of the photos, but there are examples of each "type" of finding ad from the various newspapers that have published them.

Brian

China Roots Zoeken said...

When will you release data on Hubei?

Research-China.Org said...

Anticipated publication schedule:
Guangdong -- Now Available
Hunan -- First quarter 2013
Guangxi - Second Quarter 2013
Jiangxi - Third Quarter 2013

However, we can try to sneak in orphanages not in the above Provinces if demand requires it.

China Roots Zoeken said...

Hi Brian,
I would be so very grateful if you could sneak Xiangfan orphanage in Hubei, in!

Kim said...

I would be interested in Bei Hai and Yong Feng when they are available.