Collaborative Research: Neighborhood Knowledge, Selection, and Segregation

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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).