SOC 380 ONLINE: ACTIVITY #4 (35 POINTS)

Directions: You will need to download the two PDF files included with this assignment on Blackboard. The first
PDF is a copy of the article “The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing,
Credit, and Consumer Markets”. You will use this article to complete Part I of the activity. The second PDF is
a table of income statistics by various social characteristics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (also posted in
Microsoft word format). You will use this table to complete Part II of the activity. Make sure to upload your
completed assignment to Blackboard before Saturday 10/7 at midnight.

PART I: ARTICLE COMPREHENSION (20 points)

Directions: While reading the article, you should fill in the answers below. Note: The questions go in order as
you read through the article.

1. Describe the “two-part” definition of discrimination provided in the article. Provide an example of each
part.
The first definition is Differential treatment which is when individual are treated unequally based on
their race. Disparate impact it is the treatment of individuals equally based on the rules but when the
latter are constructed in ways that favor members of one group over another. Second part of the
definition is the definitions and process that is not based on racial discrimination yet might results racial
disadvantage.
2. The article explains that one way to measure discrimination is to ask people whether or not they
perceive they have been victims of discrimination. Discuss the findings of one study reported on in this
section.
The study showed more than one-third African Americans, 20 percent of Asians and Hispanics has
experienced racial discrimination by being passed over in a job interview due to their race. it's been
reported that middle-class blacks are as likely to perceive discrimination as are working-class blacks

3. Another way to measure discrimination that is discussed in the article is to speak to potential employers.
The Kirschenman and Neckerman study discussed in this section of the article found that many
employers avoided hiring which group of people?
The study approached interviewing to discuss sensitive hiring issues against young, inner-city black men
during their hiring processes, where employers displayed blatant bias due to the negative stereotypes
they attributed to them.

4. What do the authors mean when they say the most common approach to studying discrimination is by
investigating inequality in outcomes between groups?
The author means is to conduct studies to show the inequality of incomes among different racial groups
5-6. Discuss the two main disadvantages of using surveys to study discrimination. Provide an example of each
that is DIFFERENT than the example provided in the article.
The difficulty to express feelings or experiences truly for example a survey at a company where it's known for
racial equality, employees would hesitate to admit experiencing racial bias. For fear of being fired. Surveys
might not be able to capture the complexity of the situation for example on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "not at
all" and 5 being "extremely” where such systems candidate would find it challenging to express their experience
in details.
7. How is a field experiment different than a laboratory experiment? Why might field experiments be more
useful?
Field experience refers to experiments in real life without external impacts while laboratory experiments refers
to experiments done under controlled environment. I believe field experience might be more useful because it
study's the behavior that occurs naturally which is more realistic.
8. Discuss the purpose and findings of the audit study conducted by Bertrand & Mullainathan.
The purpose of this study is to assess whether job interviews prefers names that are more white sounding such
as Emily, greg) rather than African American names such as (Lakisha and Jamal). The findings were that
African American with white sounding names received a rate of 50% higher callback than those with African
American names.
9. The authors note that hiring and employment research shows widespread discrimination, but the research on
wage disparities shows more mixed conclusions. Discuss the findings of one study that showed wage
discrimination and one study that did not show wage discrimination.
Wage discrimination showed whites received 15 cents and hour higher than other racial groups. Findings of
study that didn’t show wage discrimination was wage gap can be due to factors such as education, skill
acquisition.
10. Audit studies on housing discrimination show that African Americans experience discriminatory treatment
in one out of ___2__ housing searches and Hispanic Americans experience discriminatory treatment in one out
of ___2__ housing searches.
11. The authors state that ____ homeownership___ is one of the most significant sources of wealth
accumulation.
12. Discuss the findings of one studies from the housing section.
Blacks received adverse treatment one in five housing search, and Hispanics adverse treatment in roughly one
out of four housing searches.
13. Research examining discrimination in the consumer market has often focused on experiences purchasing
which product?
Housing and real estate.
14-15. The authors state that “symbolic racism”, “modern racism”, and “laissez-faire racism” all look at the
disconnect between attitudes of principle and attitudes on policy. What does this mean? Provide an example.
This states that the attitude and beliefs of individuals when it come to public policies related to inequality. For
example an individual might claim to believe in equality, yet opposes equality in housing, employment, and
education.
16-18. The authors describe 4 different organizational factors: (1) the role of formalization, (2) diversity
initiatives, (3) the role of networks, and (4) organizations in contexts. Provide a 1-2 sentence summary of what
each factor is looking at. Based on the 4 factors you described above, which factor do you feel is most
important? Why?
the role of formalization: shows how clear guidelines can decrease discrimination. diversity initiatives: views
the impact of diversity and policies within organization including their effectiveness in reducing discrimination.
the role of networks: includes the social informal relationships that reduce discrimination. organizations in
contexts: refers to how external factors such as legal environment contribute in reducing discrimination. I
believe the third factor because when a place become more diverse with people and individuals share their real
believes this will somehow change the stereotypes.
19-20. One of the three structural factors examined in this article is “a legacy of historical discrimination”.
Some people argue that historical discrimination does not need to be examined today because these policies and
practices are (by and large) no longer legal. Why might a sociologist still be interested in looking at historical
discrimination?
It leads to a greater knowledge of the complicated and linked nature of discrimination and social justice
concerns, offers critical insights into the persistence of inequality, and guides policy initiatives.

PART II: DATA ANALYSIS (15 points)

Directions: Use the table included with this assignment to answer the questions below.

We often hear statistics about pay gaps based on sex or race. There are many statistics that say things like “For
every 1 dollar a man earns, a woman earns __0.80____ cents”. These statistics are really just ratios. For
example, if the average woman earns $12.00 an hour and the average man earns $15.00 an hour, the ratio of
women’s hourly earnings to men’s hourly earnings would be: 12/15 = .80. This would mean that for every
$1.00 a man earns, a woman earns 80 cents.

21. Fill in the following table based on the information provided to you in the table. Note: This number is
actually provided to you in the table, but needs to be converted back to a decimal.

GENDER PAYS DIFFERENCES BY RACE/ETHNICITY

FEMALE MALE

WHITE .81 $1.00

BLACK .89 $1.00

ASIAN .78 $1.00

HISPANIC .88 $1.00

22-23. While the table gives us the answers to the chart you filled in above, we can also calculate these answers
based on data provided in the table. In the space below, show how each statistic was calculated. For example,
if I was showing the work for my example in the introduction I would write: 12/15 = .80.

White women to White men: 0.75 Asian women to Asian men: 0.81

Hispanic women to Hispanic men: 0.62 Black women to Black men: 1.1
24-25. We could also calculate wage ratios not found on this table by performing calculations with the data
provided. Show how these statistics would be calculated below:

Hispanic women to white men: 0.15 African Americans to whites: 0.16

White women to Asian men: 9.55 Black women to white men: 0.15

Hispanics to whites: 0.22 Asians to whites: 0.08

26. The highest median weekly earnings are found among members of which racial group?
Asians

27. Among men, which marital status has the lowest median weekly earnings for men?

Never married

28. Which characteristic (e.g black men to black women, 55 to 64 year old men to 55 to 64 year old women,
married men to married women) shows the most equality between men and women’s wages? In other words, for
which characteristic do women earn the highest percentage of men’s salary?

20 to 24 where women receive $500 and men receive $523

29. Which racial group has the highest incomes?

Asian

30. Which racial group has the lowest incomes?

Hispanics

31. What is the median weekly earnings for married adults in the United States?

$960
32. Which sex and race combination has the lowest weekly income? (Ex. Asian male)
Hispanics

33-35. Summarize the results of the information in this table in terms of the relationship between gender, age,
and income. Do NOT discuss other factors, such as race, education, marital status, etc.

I believe male receive higher income than women only at young age where they receive almost equal amount of
income.