TY - JOUR
T1 - Beyond the census tract
T2 - Patterns and determinants of racial segregation at multiple geographic scales
AU - Lee, Barrett A.
AU - Reardon, Sean F.
AU - Firebaugh, Glenn
AU - Farrell, Chad R.
AU - Matthews, Stephen A.
AU - O'Sullivan, David
PY - 2008/10
Y1 - 2008/10
N2 - The census tract-based residential segregation literature rests on problematic assumptions about geographic scale and proximity. We pursue a new tract-free approach that combines explicitly spatial concepts and methods to examine racial segregation across egocentric local environments of varying size. Using 2000 Census data for the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, we compute a spatially modified version of the information theory index H to describe patterns of Black-White, Hispanic-White, Asian-White, and multigroup segregation at different scales. We identify the metropolitan structural characteristics that best distinguish micro-segregation from macro-segregation for each group combination, and we decompose their effects into portions due to racial variation occurring over short and long distances. A comparison of our results with those from tract-based analyses confirms the value of the new approach.
AB - The census tract-based residential segregation literature rests on problematic assumptions about geographic scale and proximity. We pursue a new tract-free approach that combines explicitly spatial concepts and methods to examine racial segregation across egocentric local environments of varying size. Using 2000 Census data for the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, we compute a spatially modified version of the information theory index H to describe patterns of Black-White, Hispanic-White, Asian-White, and multigroup segregation at different scales. We identify the metropolitan structural characteristics that best distinguish micro-segregation from macro-segregation for each group combination, and we decompose their effects into portions due to racial variation occurring over short and long distances. A comparison of our results with those from tract-based analyses confirms the value of the new approach.
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U2 - 10.1177/000312240807300504
DO - 10.1177/000312240807300504
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:58149460133
SN - 0003-1224
VL - 73
SP - 766
EP - 791
JO - American sociological review
JF - American sociological review
IS - 5
ER -