This research project received funding through the 2023 Institute for Diversity Science Seed Grant Program
Principal Investigator: Max Besbris, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, UW-Madison
Abstract: This study tests if there are systematic differences across ethnoracial groups in their knowledge of local neighborhoods and if these differences matter for search behaviors in the market for rental housing. Social scientists have long been interested in how individuals choose where to live since these choices critically shape life chances and rates of segregation. I use a unique data set of millions of geocoded rental listings gathered from Craigslist—the most prominent and utilized online housing website—to generate survey experiments which have been implemented in five of the largest U.S. metro areas. In addition to surveying respondents about their local neighborhood knowledge, I will test how online advertisements shape housing decisions and residents’ perceptions of local neighborhoods.
The novel study design combines computational text analysis of real advertisements with survey experiments based in respondents’ own metro areas, and metro-based representative survey samples with oversamples of non-White respondents. Altogether, the design allows for a uniquely externally valid test of how online information affects perceptions of neighborhoods and housing searches, as well as a comparison of effects across ethnoracial groups.