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Sampling Distributions of Segregation Indexes

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  • MICHAEL R. RANSOM

    (Brigham Young University)

Abstract

This article examines the sampling distributions of popular indexes of segregation: the dissimilarity index and the Gini index. Although applications of segregation indexes are common in the social sciences, researchers have usually failed to recognize their stochastic nature. This study addresses that failure by deriving the exact sampling distribution of two popular indexes of segregation and developing a convenient asymptotic test for hypotheses about changes in segregation. Monte Carlo simulations show that the proposed test has appropriate significance levels. An example applies the methods developed in this article to test whether segregation of men and women across college majors decreased during the 1980s. The analysis finds that gender segregation has decreased, and that the decrease is statistically significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael R. Ransom, 2000. "Sampling Distributions of Segregation Indexes," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 28(4), pages 454-475, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:28:y:2000:i:4:p:454-475
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124100028004003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Boisso, Dale & Hayes, Kathy & Hirschberg, Joseph & Silber, Jacques, 1994. "Occupational segregation in the multidimensional case : Decomposition and tests of significance," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 161-171, March.
    2. Barbara S. Zoloth, 1976. "Alternative Measures of School Segregation," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(3), pages 278-298.
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    Cited by:

    1. Angelo Mazza & Antonio Punzo, 2015. "On the Upward Bias of the Dissimilarity Index and Its Corrections," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 44(1), pages 80-107, February.
    2. Jeffrey Napierala & Nancy Denton, 2017. "Measuring Residential Segregation With the ACS: How the Margin of Error Affects the Dissimilarity Index," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 285-309, February.
    3. Schneider, Kerstin & Schuchart, Claudia & Weishaupt, Horst & Riedel, Andrea, 2012. "The effect of free primary school choice on ethnic groups — Evidence from a policy reform," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 430-444.
    4. Ransom, Michael R. & Phipps, Aaron, 2016. "The Changing Occupational Distribution by College Major," IZA Discussion Papers 10193, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Kuha, Jouni & Firth, David, 2011. "On the index of dissimilarity for lack of fit in loglinear and log-multiplicative models," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 375-388, January.
    6. Yannis Psycharis & Anastasia Panori, 2023. "Small-Scale Socio-Economic Conditions And Residential Segregation: Evidence From The Municipalities Across The Metropolitan Region Of Attica," Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Romanian Regional Science Association, vol. 17(1), pages 38-65, June.
    7. Angelo Mazza, 2017. "Dealing With The Bias Of The Dissimilarity Index Of Segregation1," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 71(2), pages 11-20, April-Jun.
    8. P. Jenkins, Stephen & Micklewright, John & Viola Schnepf, Sylke, 2006. "Social segregation in Secondary Schools: how does England compare with other countries?," ISER Working Paper Series 2006-02, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Renan Xavier Cortes & Sergio Rey & Elijah Knaap & Levi John Wolf, 2020. "An open-source framework for non-spatial and spatial segregation measures: the PySAL segregation module," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 135-166, April.
    10. Rebecca Allen & Simon Burgess & Frank Windmeijer, 2009. "More Reliable Inference for Segregation Indices," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 09/216, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    11. Ran Wei & Elijah Knaap & Sergio Rey, 2023. "American Community Survey (ACS) Data Uncertainty and the Analysis of Segregation Dynamics," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-23, February.
    12. George Leckie & Rebecca Pillinger & Kelvyn Jones & Harvey Goldstein, 2012. "Multilevel Modeling of Social Segregation," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 37(1), pages 3-30, February.
    13. Stephan Humpert, 2014. "Occupational Sex Segregation and Working Time: Regional Evidence from Germany," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 61(3), pages 317-329, June.
    14. Burger, Kaspar, 2019. "The socio-spatial dimension of educational inequality: A comparative European analysis," MPRA Paper 95309, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.

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