Discrimination and Audit Studies

Course Description

Summary

In the first half of term, we will examine various definitions of discrimination, and methods of measuring discrimination, identifying advantages and pitfalls of each. We will read studies examining discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, and criminal record. Students will research the ways in which Supreme Court cases have contributed to legal and sociological conceptualizations of discrimination. In the second half of the course, students will work in pairs or small groups to design and implement an email-based experimental audit study measuring a form of discrimination of their choice. Each pair or group will produce a final research paper, modeled after an academic journal article, in which they will detail the findings of their audit study and contextualize these within the relevant literature. Students will deliver their papers in the form of professional conference-style presentations at the end of term. Prior coursework in research methods and/or social statistics is highly recommended for this class.