Collaborative Research: Neighborhood Knowledge, Selection, and Segregation

这项研究的出发点是，在几个研究领域（从种族居住隔离，到邻里效应研究，再到对居住流动性的普遍兴趣），我们对人们最终如何居住在他们所居住的地方所知相对较少。从邻里效应研究（即理解人们所处的社会环境如何塑造他们的生活结果）的角度来看，有一个持久的棘手的选择问题：观察到的不同社区之间的结果差异是由于社区环境的差异，还是由于导致一个人首先进入特定社区的原因的差异？在居住隔离领域，其原因的理论主要集中在偏好、歧视和经济学上，但对居住寻找过程及其对隔离的影响却基本保持沉默。在这两个领域的研究中，显而易见的是，人们对邻里选择的过程所知相对较少。然而，已知的指出了了解人们的经历、知识和对整个大都市区社区的看法的重要性。有必要更好地了解人们在城市中的生活方式：他们经常访问哪些社区，他们如何看待大都市地区的各种社区，他们在搬家时在哪里寻找住房，他们对哪些地区知之甚少和/或避开，以及哪些因素决定了他们选择住在哪里。现有的数据收集工具不足以有效地收集关于住宅选择的这些潜在关键方面的数据，因为它们关注的是人们对居住的社区的看法，并跟踪了个人在空间中的移动，但它们缺乏对其他潜在住宅地点的看法的信息-那些没有被受访者占用的地方。他们也没有回答关于这些观念是如何被日常经历、居住历史和社会网络塑造的问题。该项目的目的是开发一种创新的计算机辅助调查工具，以衡量个人对其大都市区内大量社区和社区的看法、经验和知识。该工具将利用交互式的、基于计算机的绘图功能，其设计目的是将其纳入一项大规模调查，以评估推动社区选择过程和维持按种族和族裔划分的居住隔离的多方面因素。这套新的调查工具将首次允许收集有关个人如何访问、体验和感知其区域内大量社区的详细数据。当这些信息与个人经济特征、家庭动态、社会态度和影响居住决策的其他因素的调查数据相结合时，将提供测试种族居住隔离原因的传统理论和先前未探索的与大都市地区社区的知识、经验和看法相关的因素的能力。更广泛的影响本研究建议的核心问题——特别是种族不平等，以及社区条件对个人结果的影响——具有重大的社会意义和关注。居住隔离已被证明对个人和社区产生一系列负面影响，包括健康、教育、就业和犯罪风险。为了理解如何解决这些问题，理解产生这些问题的过程是至关重要的。该项目开发了一套创新的工具来收集以前被忽视的住宅选择过程方面的数据。研究结果将引起社会学以外的兴趣：跨学科的社会科学家对环境，特别是居住社区，如何影响生活结果的问题感兴趣。从调查方法的角度来看，该项目还保证了调查技术的创新用途（在CAPI中使用笔记本电脑/平板电脑组合），特别是测绘技术（用于调查测量，而不是以前使用的样本管理和采访者分配任务）。

SES-1324039Maria KrysanUniversity of Illinois ChicagoSES-1324024Michael BaderAmerican UniversitySES-1323060Kyle CrowderUniversity of WashingtonThe research flows from the idea that in several areas of research (from racial residential segregation, to the study of neighborhood effects, to general interests in residential mobility) we know relatively little about how people end up living where they do. From the standpoint of neighborhood effects research (that is, understanding how the social context in which people are embedded shapes their life outcomes) there is the persistent thorny question of selection: are observed differences in outcomes across neighborhoods due to differences in neighborhood context, or due to differences in what leads a person to be in a particular neighborhood in the first place? In the area of residential segregation, theories of its causes have focused on preferences, discrimination, and economics but have been largely silent on the residential search process and how it contributes to segregation. Evident in both areas of research is that relatively little is known about the process of neighborhood selection. However, what is known points to the importance of understanding people's experiences, knowledge, and perceptions of communities throughout their metropolitan area. There is a need to better understand how people live in cities: which neighborhoods they access on a regular basis, how they perceive various neighborhoods in the metropolitan area, where they search for housing when it is time to move, which areas they know little about and/or avoid, and which factors determine where they choose to live. Existing data-collection tools are inadequate for efficiently collecting data on these potentially crucial aspects of residential selection because they have focused on perceptions of the neighborhoods in which people do live, and have tracked movements of individuals across space, but they lack information on perceptions of other potential residential locations--those not occupied by the respondents. They also do not answer questions about how those perceptions are shaped by daily experiences, residential histories, and social networks. The purpose of this project is to develop an innovative computer-aided survey tool to measure individuals' perceptions, experiences with, and knowledge of, a large number of communities and neighborhoods within their larger metropolitan area. The tool, which will utilize interactive, computer-based mapping features, will be designed for incorporation into a large-scale survey designed to assess the multifaceted factors that drive processes of neighborhood choice and maintain residential segregation by race and ethnicity. This new set of survey tools will permit, for the first time, the collection of detailed data about how individuals, access, experience, and perceive large numbers of neighborhoods within their region. This information, when combined with survey data on individual economic characteristics, family dynamics, social attitudes, and other factors that shape residential decision-making will provide the ability to test both traditional theories of the causes of racial residential segregation and previously unexplored factors related to knowledge of, experiences in, and perceptions of communities in the metropolitan area. Broader Impacts The issues at the core of this research proposal--racial inequality in particular, and the influence of neighborhood conditions on individual outcomes in general--are of great social significance and concern. Residential segregation has been shown to have an array of negative consequences for individuals and communities across a host of outcomes, including health, education, employment, and exposure to crime. To understand how to address these problems, it is critical to understand the processes that generate them. The project develops a set of innovative tools to collect data on previously ignored facets of residential selection processes. The research findings will be of interest beyond sociology: social scientists across a range of disciplines are interested in the question of how context, especially neighborhood of residence, shapes life outcomes. From the standpoint of survey methodology, the project also promises innovative uses of survey technology in general (use of laptop/tablet combinations in CAPI), and mapping technology in particular (for survey measurement, as against the sample management and interviewer assignment tasks for which it has been used previously).