Ivaylo D. Petev - Experiments

Topics in Quantitative Sociology

Fall 2020 ENSAE

Experiments

Controlled experiments can be adapted and uniquely useful to test classic sociological concepts. We focus on a field experiment to examine its application to issues of job discrimination.

Background readings

Jackson & Cox, 2013, ARS, "The Principles of Experimental Design and Their Application in Sociology"

Optional readings

Mutz, 2011, Ch, "Population based survey experiments"
Pager, 2007, AAPSS, "The use of field experiments for studies of employment discrimination: Contributions, critiques, and directions for the future"
Parigi & al., 2017, SPQ, "Online field experiments: Studying social interactions in context"
Webster & Sell, 2007, Ch, "Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences"

Case-study for reading and commentary

Pager & al., 2009, ASR, “Discrimination in a low-wage labor market: A field experiment”

Abstract: Decades of racial progress have led some researchers and policymakers to doubt that discrimination remains an important cause of economic inequality. To study contemporary discrimination, we conducted a field experiment in the low-wage labor market of New York City, recruiting white, black, and Latino job applicants who were matched on demographic characteristics and interpersonal skills. These applicants were given equivalent résumés and sent to apply in tandem for hundreds of entry-level jobs. Our results show that black applicants were half as likely as equally qualified whites to receive a callback or job offer. In fact, black and Latino applicants with clean backgrounds fared no better than white applicants just released from prison. Additional qualitative evidence from our applicants' experiences further illustrates the multiple points at which employment trajectories can be deflected by various forms of racial bias. These results point to the subtle yet systematic forms of discrimination that continue to shape employment opportunities for low-wage workers.

Case-studies for written reviews

Baldassarri, Delia, and Guy Grossman. 2013. “The Effect of Group Attachment and Social Position on Prosocial Behavior. Evidence from Lab-in-the-Field Experiments” edited by A. Sánchez. PLoS ONE 8(3):e58750. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058750.
Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth, Tak Wing Chan, Elisabeth Ugreninov, Arnfinn H. Midtbøen, and Jon Rogstad. 2019b. “Do Terrorist Attacks Affect Ethnic Discrimination in the Labour Market? Evidence from Two Randomized Field Experiments.” The British Journal of Sociology 70(1):241–60. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12344.
Brashears, Matthew E. 2008. “Sex, Society, and Association: A Cross-National Examination of Status Construction Theory.” Social Psychology Quarterly 71(1):72–85.
Centola, Damon, and Andrea Baronchelli. 2015. “The Spontaneous Emergence of Conventions: An Experimental Study of Cultural Evolution.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(7):1989–94. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1418838112.
Centola, Damon. 2010. “The Spread of Behavior in an Online Social Network Experiment.” Science 329(5996):1194–97. doi: 10.1126/science.1185231.
Centola, Damon. 2011. “An Experimental Study of Homophily in the Adoption of Health Behavior.” Science 334(6060):1269–72. doi: 10.1126/science.1207055.
Cheshire, Coye, Alexandra Gerbasi, and Karen S. Cook. 2010. “Trust and Transitions in Modes of Exchange.” Social Psychology Quarterly 73(2):176–95. doi: 10.1177/0190272509359615.
Conley, Dalton, and Brian J. McCabe. 2011. “Body Mass Index and Physical Attractiveness: Evidence From a Combination Image-Alteration/List Experiment.” Sociological Methods & Research 40(1):6–31. doi: 10.1177/0049124110390762.
Cook, Karen S., Toshio Yamagishi, Coye Cheshire, Robin Cooper, Masafumi Matsuda, and Rie Mashima. 2005. “Trust Building via Risk Taking: A Cross-Societal Experiment.” Social Psychology Quarterly 68(2):121–42. doi: 10.1177/019027250506800202.
Correll, Shelley J. 2004. “Constraints into Preferences: Gender, Status, Aand Emerging Career Aspirations.” American Sociological Review 69:93–113.
Ermisch, John, and Diego Gambetta. 2016. “Income and Trustworthiness.” Sociological Science 3:710–29. doi: 10.15195/v3.a30.
Foschi, Martha, and Jerilee Valenzuela. 2012. “Who Is the Better Applicant? Effects from Gender, Academic Record, and Type of Decision.” Social Science Research 41(4):949–64. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.02.001.
Foy, Steven L., Victor Ray, and Ashley Hummel. 2017. “The Shade of a Criminal Record: Colorism, Incarceration, and External Racial Classification.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 3:2378023116689567. doi: 10.1177/2378023116689567.
Gaddis, S. 2017. “How Black Are Lakisha and Jamal? Racial Perceptions from Names Used in Correspondence Audit Studies.” Sociological Science 4:469–89. doi: 10.15195/v4.a19.
Gaddis, S. Michael. 2017. “Racial/Ethnic Perceptions from Hispanic Names: Selecting Names to Test for Discrimination.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 3:1–11.
Godechot, Olivier. 2016. “The Chance of Influence: A Natural Experiment on the Role of Social Capital in Faculty Recruitment.” Social Networks 46:60–75. doi: 10.1016/j.socnet.2016.02.002.
Harkness, Sarah K. 2017. “Spread of Status Value: Rewards and the Creation of Status Characteristics.” Social Science Research 61:98–111. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.06.004.
Jakobsson, Niklas, and Henrik Lindholm. 2014. “Ethnic Preferences in Internet Dating: A Field Experiment.” Marriage & Family Review 50(4):307–17. doi: 10.1080/01494929.2013.879554.
Kirk, David S. 2009. “A Natural Experiment on Residential Change and Recidivism: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina.” American Sociological Review 74(3):484–505. doi: 10.1177/000312240907400308.
Krysan, Maria, Mick P. Couper, Reynolds Farley, and Tyrone A. Forman. 2009. “Does Race Matter in Neighborhood Preferences? Results from a Video Experiment.” American Journal of Sociology 115(2):527–59. doi: 10.1086/599248.
Legewie, Joscha. 2013. “Terrorist Events and Attitudes toward Immigrants: A Natural Experiment.” American Journal of Sociology 118(5):1199–1245. doi: 10.1086/669605.
Mishel, Emma. 2016. “Discrimination against Queer Women in the U.S. Workforce: A Resume Audit Study.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 2. doi: 10.1177/2378023115621316.
Monk, Ellis P. 2015. “The Cost of Color: Skin Color, Discrimination, and Health among African-Americans.” American Journal of Sociology 121(2):396–444. doi: 10.1086/682162.
Muñoz, Jordi, Albert Falcó-Gimeno, and Enrique Hernández. 2020. “Unexpected Event during Survey Design: Promise and Pitfalls for Causal Inference.” Political Analysis 28(2):186–206. doi: 10.1017/pan.2019.27.
Olsson, Filip. 2024. “Implicit Terror: A Natural Experiment on How Terror Attacks Affect Implicit Bias.” Sociological Science 11:379–412. doi: 10.15195/v11.a14.
Pager, Devah, and Lincoln Quillian. 2005. “Walking the Talk? What Employers Say Versus What They Do.” American Sociological Review 70(3):355–80. doi: 10.1177/000312240507000301.
Ridgeway, Cecilia L., and Kristan Glasgow Erickson. 2000. “Creating and Spreading Status Beliefs.” American Journal of Sociology 106(3):579–615. doi: 10.1086/318966.
Ridgeway, Cecilia L., and Sandra Nakagawa. 2017. “Is Deference the Price of Being Seen as Reasonable? How Status Hierarchies Incentivize Acceptance of Low Status.” Social Psychology Quarterly 80(2):132–52. doi: 10.1177/0190272517695213.
Ridgeway, Cecilia L., and Shelley J. Cornell. 2006. “Consensus and the Creation of Status Beliefs.” Social Forces 85(1):431–53.
Ridgeway, Cecilia L., Kristen Backor, Yan E. Li, Justine E. Tinkler, and Kristan G. Erickson. 2009. “How Easily Does a Social Difference Become a Status Distinction? Gender Matters.” American Sociological Review 74(1):44–62. doi: 10.1177/000312240907400103.
Robbins, Blaine G. 2016. “When Social Constraints Increase Trust: Considering Causal Attributions as a Source of Treatment Effect Heterogeneity.” SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2734405.
Salganik, Matthew J., Peter Sheridan Dodds, and Duncan J. Watts. 2006. “Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market.” Scientific Reports 311.
Sgourev, Stoyan V., and Niek Althuizen. 2014. “‘Notable’ or ‘Not Able’: When Are Acts of Inconsistency Rewarded?” American Sociological Review 79(2):282–302. doi: 10.1177/0003122414524575.
Skvoretz, John, and David Willer. 1993. “Exclusion and Power: A Test of Four Theories of Power in Exchange Networks.” American Sociological Review 58(6):801. doi: 10.2307/2095952.
Steele, Claude M. 1997. “How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance.” American Psychologist 52(6).
Stovel, Katherine, and Yen-Sheng Chiang. 2016. “Commitments and Contests: How Preferential Association Produces Equity.” American Behavioral Scientist 60(10):1194–1214. doi: 10.1177/0002764216643132.
Thye, Shane R., and Ashley Harrell. 2017. “The Status Value Theory of Power and Mechanisms of Micro Stratification: Theory and New Experimental Evidence.” Social Science Research 63:54–66. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.09.008.
Tilcsik, András. 2021. “Statistical Discrimination and the Rationalization of Stereotypes.” American Sociological Review 86(1):93–122.
Tsvetkova, Milena, and Michael Macy. 2015. “The Social Contagion of Antisocial Behavior.” Sociological Science 2:36–49. doi: 10.15195/v2.a4.
Walker, Lisa Slattery, Murray Webster, and Alison J. Bianchi. 2011. “Testing the Spread of Status Value Theory.” Social Science Research 40(6):1652–63. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.04.005.