Our analysis entailed the examination of individual details with specific attention to attire in the two sets of photographs.  The dependent variables focus on the particular style of clothing and the independent variable is the number and frequency of occurrences of each style. 

The Ellis Island set had a total population of 89 images and The Donald Weber collection had a total population of 126 images.   A stratified sample of 15 images was selected from each set.  Two researchers coded the Ellis Island set and two researchers coded the Weber set.   Each researcher independently analyzed and  coded fifteen pictures and  input the data into a spreadsheet.   Inter-rater reliability for all was very high, over 95% for all coding on both sets of images.

Figure 1 (pg. 1) illustrates the variation in ethnic styles in the Ellis Island set. Fifteen photos were examined and there are thirteen ethnic styles represented. There are only two styles that are shown in more than one photo.  The ethnic attire is evident in head coverings, dresses, aprons, uniforms, shawls and suits.  There is a distinct flavor to each nation’s traditional attire.  Figure 2 (pg. 2) illustrates the frequencies for each category.

The analysis of the Weber images is graphically depicted in Figure 3 (pg. 3) and 4 (pg. 4).  Here we see that the fifteen images have much less variety than the Ellis Island images.  There are only six separate styles represented and ten photos are all in the same style of dress, English established.  The visual depiction of the analysis is striking; it shows the sharp vertical skewing of the bar graph due to the overwhelming occurrence of the English established style of dress.  The graphs corroborate our primary hypothesis.