Residential Segregation in Detroit: Exploring the 8-Mile Divide
Each field research project will be evaluated/graded according to the following criteria: 1) data collection (25%), 2) data analysis (25%), 3) use of supplementary materials (25%), and 4) presentation of findings (25%). Your group will be required to fill out a grade sheet (one per group) which explicitly states what you have done for each phase of the project. DATA COLLECTION This initial phase represents the greatest difficulty in this particular project. You will need to gather demographic data on the different areas of the Detroit Metropolitan area. This data is most readily found using the US Census which has broken up differing areas into ‘Census Tracks'. There are several ways of getting the Census data, the easiest however is by using the Internet. If you have difficulty obtaining Internet access in the library, let me know immediately and we will make alternative arrangements. There are several pieces of information that you will want to obtain about each Census track. This information includes: 1) the average education level, 2) the average income, 3) the average price of housing, 4) the racial composition, and 5) employment rate. DATA ANALYSIS Your research question is a descriptive one, so the task of your analysis is to put together the data you have collected in a way which accurately and concisely conveys to members of the class the socio-economic and racial composition of various Census Tracks in the greater metropolitan Detroit area. You may choose to present a detailed map to the class, you may want to provide a series of charts, or you may think of an alternative way to convey the information. USE OF SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS While collecting and presenting the descriptive data are the bulk of your task, you should be able to use the supplementary literature to answer questions about the relationship between SES and housing patterns, or between race and housing patterns. You should push yourself to consider the broader structural issues at hand, such as the effects that the observed housing patterns have on race relations. You will be able to answer these questions by using some of the outside reading suggested below and from our discussions about inequality in class. I have suggested several readings listed below which can be located in the Eschelman library or may be borrowed from my personal collection (remember, I know where you live!). You will be required to cite the relevant literature in your presentation. This means that you should select 1-2 of the items if you are an individual, or all of the items if you are a group and determine the main argument from them. You will be expected to provide a sociologial explanation of why people experience society differently which encorporates the work which currently exists in the field. (Cont.) Some outside reading you may want to look at includes: Hacker, Andrew J. (1992). Two Nations: Black and White; Sepaarate, Hostile, Unequal. New York: Ballentine Books. Jencks, Christopher. (1995). The Homeless. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Massey, Douglas and Nancy Denton. (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, Oliver, Melvin and Thomas Shapiro. (1995). Black Wealth, White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality. New York: Routledge. Wilson, W. J. (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS This project calls for a great deal of creativity in its presentation. I will be looking to see how effectively you are able to the portray degree of residential segregation in our own area to the members of the class. I will also be evaluating how you are able to situate your presentation within the arguments of the existing literature and field questions from the class.