130-132

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

  • Understanding the necessity of measuring race for studying racial profiling in traffic enforcement.

  • Challenges associated with measuring race arise from conceptualization.

CONCEPTUALIZING RACE

  • General Concept: Race often perceived as genetic or biological.

    • Research indicates significant genetic variation within race groups (Winker, 2004).

  • Self-Designation: Individuals define their race for personal and cultural relevance.

    • Approach used by the Census Bureau; problems arise when categories do not match heritage (Swarns, 2004).

    • Hispanic or Latino individuals often select "some other race" due to limited category options.

  • Observational Appearance: Conceptualizing race based on physical appearance can lead to biases.

    • Importance of understanding how police might measure race in practice for profiling.

OPERATIONALIZING RACE AND ETHNICITY

  • Two approaches to operationalize: self-report and observed race.

    • Most studies rely on observation leading to challenges in identifying certain racial categories, particularly Hispanic drivers.

  • Different methodologies demonstrated:

    • Pennsylvania Study: Observers located on roadways (Engel et al., 2004).

    • North Carolina Study: Teams of researchers as mobile observers.

    • New Jersey Study (2005): Used digital cameras to photograph drivers.

      • Photos analyzed by teams to classify race: classified as white, black, Asian, American Indian, or other.

  • Self-reporting method used on the New Jersey Turnpike:

    • Drivers exiting had to report race/ethnicity among six choices.

    • Police recorded race of stopped drivers.

  • Data summary indicates variations across three measures:

    Measure

    White

    Black

    Hispanic

    Other

    Photo Coding

    66%

    15%

    11%

    9%

    Tollbooth Survey

    52%

    29%

    10%

    10%

    Police Stop Data

    58%

    26%

    7%

    9%

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

  • Interrater Reliability: Important for observational race coding.

    • In Pennsylvania, agreement required among observers; only 2.7% had classification disputes.

  • Digital photographs in New Jersey added reliability but faced challenges.

    • High-speed image captures resulted in 24% unusable images.

    • Remaining images required consensus of at least 2 of 3 coders (valid for 89% of usable images).

  • Discusses Validity in relation to measures of driver profiling.

    • Appearance of race considered more valid for assessing police stops than self-identified race.

TYPOS

  • Composite measures can summarize data across multiple indicators into a single numerical score.

  • Typology: Classifying people by combining measures to create categories is essential.

    • Example of court experience typology derived from survey questions regarding jury duty and witness testimony.

    • Complex Typologies: Multiple measures may be combined to track patterns over time.

    • Rolf Loeber's research: Defined categories of delinquency within longitudinal studies:

      • Categories encompassed varying levels of delinquency (None, Minor, Moderate, Serious).

      • Operationalized data into classifications reflecting changes in offense seriousness over time.

INDEX OF DISORDER

  • Questions the meaning of disorder from Wesley Skogan's reflections.

  • Explores links between crime, fear, and social issues (public drinking, drug use, litter, etc.).