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Interviewer-respondent rapport is generally considered to be beneficial for the quality of the data collected in survey interviews; however, the relationship between rapport and data quality has rarely been directly investigated. We conducted a laboratory experiment in which eight professional interviewers interviewed 125 respondents to see how the rapport between interviewers and respondents is associated with the quality of data—primarily disclosure of sensitive information—collected in these interviews. It is possible that increased rapport between interviewers and respondents might motivate respondents to be more conscientious, increasing disclosure; alternatively, increased rapport might inhibit disclosure because presenting oneself unfavorably is more aversive if respondents have a positive relationship with the interviewer. More specifically, we examined three issues: (1) what the relationship is between rapport and the disclosure of information of varying levels of sensitivity, (2) how rapport is associated with item nonresponse, and (3) whether rapport can be similarly established in video-mediated and computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPIs). We found that (1) increased respondents’ sense of rapport increased disclosure for questions that are highly sensitive compared with questions about topics of moderate sensitivity; (2) increased respondents’ sense of rapport is not associated with a higher level of item nonresponse; and (3) there was no significant difference in respondents’ rapport ratings between video-mediated and CAPI, suggesting that rapport is just as well established in video-mediated interviews as it is in CAPI.

Growing evidence suggests that maltreatment is reproduced across generations as victims of maltreatment are at an increased risk for maltreatment perpetration. Unfortunately, little information about mediating pathways exists to provide an explanation for why maltreatment begets maltreatment. We use the number of types of maltreatment experienced to predict later maltreatment perpetration and then examine two developmental pathways that may serve as bridges between maltreatment victimization and perpetration: adolescent problem behaviors and precocious transitions to adulthood. With prospective, longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, we assess the relevance of these pathways for the number of maltreatment experiences as well as the number of maltreatment victimization experiences by developmental period (i.e., childhood and adolescence). Our results demonstrate a significant relationship between maltreatment victimization and maltreatment perpetration. Adolescent delinquency and two precocious transitions, dropping out of school and independent living, as well as the accumulation of precocious transitions and problem behaviors, serve as mediators of this intergenerational relationship. Furthermore, the relationship between the number of types of maltreatment and subsequent perpetration is primarily driven by experiences of maltreatment during adolescence. We discuss the implications of these results and set an agenda for the development of programs and policies to interrupt the cycle of maltreatment.

This paper investigates the labor market returns to high school types. We exploit comprehensive administrative data describing the school-to-work transition for the universe of Chilean students attending tenth grade in 2001. We discuss the role of self-selection into school types, pre-labor market abilities, firm characteristics, and present bounds for the parameters of interest. Attending private high schools has long-lasting e ects on earnings. Moreover, the long-term returns to school-level valueadded measures and monetary investments in education are larger among private-school students. Our findings provide new insights into the association of school choice and the inertia of income inequality.

Ginger Zhe Jin, University of Maryland, et al.; 2013-009

In the US, African Americans have a higher prevalence of hypertension than Whites. Previous studies show that social support contributes to the racial differences in hypertension but are limited in accounting for the social and environmental effects of racial residential segregation. We examined whether the association between race and hypertension varies by the level of social support among African Americans and Whites living in similar social and environmental conditions, specifically an urban, low-income, racially integrated community. Using data from the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities-Southwest Baltimore (EHDIC-SWB) sample, we hypothesized that social support moderates the relationship between race and hypertension and the racial difference in hypertension is smaller as the level of social support increases. Hypertension was defined as having systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 mmHg, or the participant reports of taking antihypertensive medication(s). The study only included participants that self-reported as “Black/African American” or “White.” Social support was measured as functional social support and marital status. After adjusting for demographics and health-related characteristics, we found no interaction between social support and race (DUFSS score, prevalence ratio 1.00; 95% confidence interval 0.99, 1.01; marital status, prevalence ratio 1.02; 95% confidence interval 0.86, 1.21); thus the hypothesis was not supported. A plausible explanation is that the buffering factor of social support cannot overcome the social and environmental conditions which the participants live in. Further, these findings emphasize social and environmental conditions of participants in EHDIC-SWB may equally impact race and hypertension.

Findings of an association between skin color and educational attainment have been fairly consistent among Americans born before the civil rights era, but little is known regarding the persistence of this relationship in later born cohorts. The authors ask whether the association between skin color and educational attainment has changed between black American baby boomers and millennials. The authors observe a large and statistically significant decline in the association between skin color and educational attainment between baby boomer and millennial black women, whereas the decline in this association between the two cohorts of black men is smaller and nonsignificant. Compared with baby boomers, a greater percentage of the association between skin color and educational attainment among black millennials appears to reflect educational disparities in previous generations. These results emphasize the need to conceptualize colorism as an intersectional problem and suggest caution when generalizing evidence of colorism in earlier cohorts to young adults today.

Examining the impact of racial bias and discrimination on birth outcomes using mixed methods

This year’s crabbing season is fraught with difficult choices for the nearly all-foreign-women workers during the pandemic hit

2018 Conference