QR Case 3 -- Race and Residence in Massachusetts

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This case uses data from Census 2000 to describe and interpret residential patterns in Massachusetts. For their final project, students will be asked to formulate and test their own hypotheses about race, residence and housing.

Course web page: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/etownsle/qr

Week 1

Discuss racial classifications in the United States.

Exercise on the census web site http://www.census.gov.

Introducing SPSS and describing the data. NOTE: SPSS tutorial.

How likely are the patterns we are seeing? Describing distributions.

Readings

Haynes. 2001. “E Pluribus Unum”.

Grieco & Cassidy. 2001. “Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin”.

Omi and Winant. 1986. “Racial Formation”.

Week 2

Guest lecture, Professor Preston Smith, Politics Department, MHC.

Concentration effects, recoding and crosstabs.

Readings

Massey and Denton. 1993. “The Missing Link” and “The Creation of Underclass Communities”.

Smith. 1995. “Hidden History of Racial Segregation in Springfield and Holyoke”

No meeting THANKSGIVING WEEK

Week 3

Introduction to chi-square

Readings

Bluestone and Stevenson. 2000. “Residential Preferences and

Segregation”.

Week 4

More on chi-square and the logic of 3-way tables.

Final Projects DUE 12/16