Abstracts for October 2008 ASR

Spatial Dynamics of White Flight: The Effects of Local and Extralocal Racial Conditions on Neighborhood Out-Migration – Kyle Crowder, Western Washington University and Scott J. South, State University of New York-Albany
Does the Racial Composition of a Neighborhood and the Surrounding Community Prompt Whites to Move?

Neighborhoods are often segregated by race, and it is assumed that as more minorities move into a neighborhood, Whites will move out. A recent study by Kyle Crowder of Western Washington University and Scott J. South of the State University of New York-Albany finds that this relationship is more complicated. Using advanced statistical techniques, Crowder and South examine how the racial composition of one’s neighborhood, as well as the areas surrounding one’s neighborhood, influences Whites’ decisions to move. They find that growing concentrations of minority residents in nearby neighborhoods increase the likelihood that Whites will move. All else being equal, changes in surrounding neighborhoods exert a stronger influence on Whites’ moving than do changes in immediate neighborhoods. However, once Whites make the decision to consider moving, the size and diversity of the minority population in surrounding areas is likely important in determining the attractiveness of residential alternatives. That is, in the context of Whites’ aversion to residing near large and diverse minority populations, and the fact that nearby neighborhoods tend to be the most likely residential destinations, large concentrations of minorities in surrounding neighborhoods may dissuade Whites from moving. Their results suggest that paying attention to neighborhoods and surrounding communities is important for understanding “white flight” and patterns of neighborhood change.

Immigrant Children’s Educational Achievement in Western Countries: Origin, Destination, and Community Effects on Mathematical Performance – Mark Levels, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Jaap Dronkers, European University Institute, and Gerbert Kraaykamp, Radboud University, Nijmegen
How Do a Country of Origin and a Host Country Affect Immigrant’s Educational Achievement?

Immigrant children’s educational achievement varies across countries. In a new article, Mark Levels of Radboud University-Nijmegen, Jaap Dronkers of the European University Institute, and Gerbert Kraaykamp of Radboud University study how origin countries and host countries, as well as immigrant communities, affect immigrant children’s educational achievement. The study uses sophisticated statistical analysis of more than 7,000 15-year-old students from 35 countries living in 13 Western countries, and finds that strict immigration laws explain immigrant children’s better educational performance in traditional immigrant-receiving countries. Additionally, origin countries’ level of economic development can negatively affect immigrant children’s educational performance, and immigrant children from more politically stable countries perform better at school. Finally, socioeconomic differences between immigrant communities and a native population, and relative community size, both shape immigrant children’s scholastic achievement. Overall, children of politically motivated immigrants, children from small immigrant communities, and children from communities with low socioeconomic status are disadvantaged. The authors argue that “policies designed to increased educational performance of immigrant children could benefit from targeting these groups.”

 
Hispanic Segregation in Metropolitan America: Exploring the Multiple Forms of Spatial Assimilation – John Iceland, The Pennsylvania State University and Kyle Anne Nelson, University of Maryland
Do Race and Nativity Affect the Residential Patterns of Hispanics in the U.S.?

Do race and nativity affect the residential patterns of Hispanics in the United States? A recent study by John Iceland of The Pennsylvania State University and Kyle Anne Nelson of the University of Maryland examines how race and nativity affect levels of residential segregation among Hispanics in U.S. metropolitan areas. Using sophisticated statistical techniques, Iceland and Nelson find that White Hispanics tend to be less segregated from non-Hispanic Whites than from African-Americans, and Black Hispanics tend to be less segregated from African Americans than from non-Hispanic Whites. They also find that U.S.-born Hispanics are typically less segregated from non-Hispanic Whites, African-Americans, and other-race U.S.-born Hispanics than are their foreign-born counterparts. Race, however, continues to influence residential segregation, despite the effects of nativity and other assimilation-related factors. Their results suggest that Hispanics simultaneously experience spatial integration in multiple forms with multiple groups.

 
The Effect of Sibship Size on Educational Attainment in China: Period Variations – Yao Lu, Columbia University and Donald J. Treiman, University of California-Los Angeles
Educational Policies Influence Whether Children in Larger Families Get More or Less Education

In industrialized nations, the number of children in a household, or sibship size, generally depresses educational attainment: the larger the number of siblings, the lower an individual’s educational attainment. This association is much less consistent in developing nations, however. A recent study by Yao Lu of Columbia University and Donald J. Treiman of the University of California-Los Angeles examines the effect that the number of siblings has on educational attainment in China. Sibship size effects have varied over time in China in response to changes in state policy, which alternately promoted educational equality and educational competition. These policies play out in complex ways. When schooling opportunities were limited and expensive, children in large families, especially girls, obtained less schooling. When schooling expanded and became less expensive, children in large families received more schooling. Their findings suggest that “government policies in developing societies can play crucial roles in altering educational resources available to individual children.”

Changing Relationships between Education and Fertility: A Study of Women and Men Born 1940 to 1964 – Øystein Kravdal, University of Oslo and Ronald R. Rindfuss, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and East-West Center
How Has the Relationship between Education and Fertility Changed Over Time for Men and Women?

How has the relationship between education and fertility changed over time for men and women? Conventional wisdom holds that there is a strong inverse relationship between education and completed fertility, but this has not been carefully examined in recent decades, and the topic has been almost completely neglected for men. In a new article, Øystein Kravdal, University of Oslo, and Ronald R. Rindfuss, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and East-West Center, examine this relationship using sophisticated statistical techniques for the Norwegian population born between 1940 and 1964. Among women, the relationship between completed fertility and educational level attained at age 39 has become less negative. Better-educated women have later first births and remain childless more often than do the less educated. The negative effect of education on having larger families has disappeared for women who have children later. Among men, the better educated become fathers later than the less educated, but fewer remain childless, and there has been an increasing effect of education on second- and third-births.

Cultural Globalization and Arts Journalism: The International Orientation of Arts and Cultural Coverage in Dutch, French, German, and U.S. Newspapers, 1955 to 2005 – Susanne Janssen, Erasmus University-Rotterdam, Giselinde Kuipers, University of Amsterdam, and Marc Verboord, Erasmus University-Rotterdam
International Arts and Culture Coverage Has Increased in Europe but not the U.S.

How much attention does foreign culture garner in the media? Has this changed in the past half-century? A recent study by Susanne Janssen of Erasmus University-Rotterdam, Giselinde Kuipers of the University of Amsterdam, and Marc Verboord of Erasmus University-Rotterdam examines key developments and variations in coverage of foreign culture in several prominent Dutch, French, German, and U.S. newspapers between 1955 and 2005. They find that coverage of international arts and culture increased in Dutch, French, and German newspapers, but not in the U.S. press. By 2005, while more than half of Dutch and German arts coverage had an international orientation, and French arts coverage was nearly 50 percent international, only one-fourth of U.S. arts coverage focused on international artists and productions. This disparity in international arts coverage is partly explained by their finding that the more central a country is to the international art world, the less its media covers international arts and culture. In each of the countries studied, international coverage is concentrated on a few countries, of which the United States has become the most prominent. Although the global diversity of coverage has increased, non-Western countries are underrepresented.

Classification and Culture: Types and Trajectories of Music Genres – Jennifer C. Lena, Vanderbilt University and Richard A. Peterson, Vanderbilt University
How Is Music Organized into Genres?

How do musical genres develop? Is genre development driven by artists searching for a community or by the record industry’s business interests? Jennifer C. Lena and Richard A. Peterson of Vanderbilt University examine 60 music genres in the United States, distinguishing between 12 social, organizational, and symbolic attributes. They find that two-thirds of the musics they examined originated in an “Avant-garde” genre type, that is, they began when a small group of musicians, no more than a dozen, met informally and irregularly. The remaining one-third originated in either a Scene—that is, a community springs up around a group of musicians, including press, clubs, and fans—or, surprisingly, as Industry-based genres, in which a genre is created within an industrial corporation. Music genres typically start out as Avant-garde, moving through Scene and Industry stages, and sometimes ending up as Traditionalist genres, when fans grow nostalgic for what they take to be the “real” origins of the music. Some genres move through all four of the stages, some never leave the avant-garde and die out quickly, and some hit just a few stages.

Beyond the Census Tract: Patterns and Determinants of Racial Segregation at Multiple Geographic Scales — Barrett A. Lee, The Pennsylvania State University, Sean F. Reardon, Stanford University, Glenn Firebaugh, The Pennsylvania State University, Chad R. Farrell, University of Alaska-Anchorage, Stephen A. Matthews, The Pennsylvania State University, and David O’Sullivan, University of Auckland
Patterns of Racial Segregation are Dependent on Geographic Scale

Are patterns of racial segregation dependent on geographic scale? Using 2000 Census data and sophisticated statistical techniques, the authors of a recent study in the American Sociological Review examine patterns of racial segregation at multiple geographic scales for the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. It is well-known that Black–White segregation exceeds that of other group combinations; this analysis shows that this is mainly attributable to how Blacks and Whites are distributed across large subregions of a metropolis. That is, macro-segregation contributes more to Black–White segregation than to Hispanic–White or Asian–White segregation among small local environments. Their findings show that as geographic scale increases, minority segregation from Whites decreases. Regional location is key to explaining small-scale segregation not attributable to large-scale patterns, while population size and minority group representation help explain large-scale segregation. The authors conclude that “by proceeding at multiple scales, additional insights can be gained that enrich the results from conventional scholarship.”

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Last Updated on September 15, 2008
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