Previous research in the spatial assimilation of racial and ethnic groups has not
assessed trends over time due to methodological difficulties and data limitations. I use an
innovative method to assess the intercensal changes in neighborhood spatial attainment
for African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites in Houston, Texas, between
1970 and 2000. I extend the current literature by showing that an accepted and
commonly used method for assessing longitudinal change in spatial attainment is flawed
and yields incorrect results. I highlight an alternative approach which makes use of data
readily available in Census Summary Files to estimate individual-level spatial attainment
regressions. I also show that the choice of neighborhood size affects estimates of spatial
attainment effects. Although the influence of spatial scale has been demonstrated in the
segregation literature, its consequences for spatial attainment research have not. I
investigate and report findings from four geographic scales useful to and commonly used
by spatial attainment researchers: the block group, the Census tract, the Zip Code
Tabulated Area, and the Public Use Micro Data Area. I compare the benefits and
drawbacks of estimating spatial attainment at each level of geography.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2370 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Waren, Warren |
| Contributors | Fossett, Mark |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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