Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: We propose a poster session for the American Sociological Association’s 2004 Annual Meeting, based on our work in developing a community indicator system and accompanying regional survey for the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The region encompasses two states, and 354 communities in the 9 county Philadelphia-Camden PMSA. The poster session will include a mix of aerial photos, 8-10 indicator maps that have been developed for the project, and illustrative material from the results of the regional survey. Copies of the first annual report will be available as well. Representatives from the project will be prepared to answer questions about the project, and especially about the various data sources and methodological concerns that have emerged during the project.
The scope of the indicators (more than 50 indicators across a dozen categories) combined with approaches to linking spatially diffuse phenomenon (e.g., environmental conditions and transportation) have made this a challenging and rewarding effort in developing a regional warehouse of basic community level data items. In an attempt to make the information as useful as possible, the project is assisted by an advisory board from the public, private and community sectors, with each member bring a particular expertise in one or another indicator area. The indicators themselves are linked to the subject matter of the annual survey, and respondents are geo-located to the type of community they reside in, allowing for comparisons between subjective impressions of issues that can be compared and the indicators themselves.

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Recent studies of immigration raise concerns regarding the socio-economic future of the ‘new second generation,’ the children of immigrants to the United States; but the empirical evidence is relatively scarce and inconclusive. Using data from the "Second Generation in Metropolitan New York" project and the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, this paper examines patterns of co-ethnic employment among second generation immigrants in the Metropolitan New York labor market. Since the literature suggests that ethnic economies play an important role in the economic incorporation of immigrants, we study their role in the second generation’s trajectories into the labor market. We examine the relationship between co-ethnic employment and the main factors suggested in the literature to shape labor market experiences: human capital, social networks, organizational characteristics and labor market opportunity structure. The findings suggest: that (a) co-ethnic employment is a significant (although not a majority) experience for second generation immigrants as well as for their native born counter parts; and that (b) patterns of co-ethnic employment and the factors shaping them vary across groups and industries. Based on these finding we conclude that race and ethnicity do and probably will continue to have an important role in shaping economic trajectories of groups and individuals.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Intercountry adoptions are increasing worldwide, but public perceptions of this phenomenon have received relatively little research attention. This study addresses this topic using data collected in the summer of 2003 in a telephone survey of a random sample of 587 English-speaking residents in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area. Respondents were asked whether they personally knew someone who had adopted a child from another country, how favorable they felt toward this way of forming a family, and whether they believed such adoptions increase understanding between nations. While 44 percent of the respondents knew personally someone who had adopted a child from another country, the odds of such personal acquaintance were much greater if the respondent identified as white rather than nonwhite. Personal acquaintance had an independent positive association with both general favorability toward intercountry adoption and, less strongly, toward the belief that intercountry adoption increases understanding between nations. Controlling for personal acquaintance, nonwhites were more favorable toward intercountry adoption than whites. Possible implications of these findings are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examines the association between residential proximity to industrial activity and psychological distress. Using individual level data from the 1995 Detroit Area Study, industrial activity data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory, and demographic data from the U.S. census, we find that residential proximity to industrial activity increases psychological distress among survey respondents. This association holds after controlling for individual and neighborhood level correlates.