Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance

Gaddis, S. Michael

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71153-9

Cited by 75 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 189 publications

(260 reference statements)

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“…In a correspondence test, fictitious applications are created and sent to real employers to study differences in positive employer response rates. While most correspondence studies have focused on race or nationality, usually finding evidence of discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities, there are far fewer studies on gender discrimination and results are mixed (see [7][8][9][10] for literature reviews). A recent comprehensive review by Baert [10] lists only eight [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] published correspondence studies on gender discrimination in hiring since 2005, in contrast to 34 studies on race and ethnicity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While most correspondence studies have focused on race or nationality, usually finding evidence of discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities, there are far fewer studies on gender discrimination and results are mixed (see [7][8][9][10] for literature reviews). A recent comprehensive review by Baert [10] lists only eight [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] published correspondence studies on gender discrimination in hiring since 2005, in contrast to 34 studies on race and ethnicity. Some more recent work on gender discrimination not covered in Baert's review, e.g., [19][20][21], can be found in his online register of correspondence experiments on hiring discrimination (https://users.ugent.be/~sbaert/research_register.htm), but they are still few.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender discrimination in hiring: An experimental reexamination of the Swedish case

2021

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We estimated the degree of gender discrimination in Sweden across occupations using a correspondence study design. Our analysis of employer responses to more than 3,200 fictitious job applications across 15 occupations revealed that overall positive employer response rates were higher for women than men by almost 5 percentage points. We found that this gap was driven by employer responses in female-dominated occupations. Male applicants were about half as likely as female applicants to receive a positive employer response in female-dominated occupations. For male-dominated and mixed occupations we found no significant differences in positive employer responses between male and female applicants.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender discrimination in hiring: An experimental reexamination of the Swedish case

2021

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“…Over the past six decades, researchers have increasingly used a field experiment known as the audit method to examine discrimination across disciplines, geography, characteristics, and contexts (Auspurg, Schneck, and Hinz 2019;Bertrand and Mullainathan 2004;Costa 2017;2018a;2018b;Quillian et al 2017;. Researchers use these covert experiments to make strong causal claims about difficult-to-detect behavior, such as racial, gender, and other types of discrimination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Audit Studies of Housing in the United States: Established, Emerging, and Future Research

Gaddis

DiRago

2021

SSRN Journal

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Since the 1960s, social scientists, fair housing agencies, and the federal government have conducted hundreds of in-person and correspondence housing audits. Researchers use these covert experiments to make strong causal claims about difficult-to-detect behavior, such as racial, gender, and other types of discrimination. These studies have consistently uncovered discrimination in multiple stages and contexts of the housing exchange process. The housing audit literature is broad and robust, and a number of in-depth reviews already exist. In this chapter, we build on those reviews by focusing attention on emerging areas of inquiry and suggest new avenues of research pursuits. We begin by briefly reviewing the long history of housing audits including in-person HUD audits and correspondence audits of home sales and housing rentals. Next, we discuss three emerging areas of housing audit research -housing choice vouchers, short-term rentals, and roommate searches -and highlight important findings, new innovations, and areas of weakness. Finally, we conclude with a discussion about future directions of housing audits including using experiments to test for ways to reduce discrimination, using additional data to examine the mechanisms of housing discrimination, and designing modified audits to explore discrimination in other stages of housing exchange.

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“…Moreover, it allows for a randomized research design in a field setting, where researchers can manipulate one or more characteristics associated with hypothesized outcomes. This method is particularly effective for studying discrimination and has been successfully used to advance the uncovering of racial discrimination in employment (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004), housing rental access (Hogan & Berry, 2011), and other arenas (Gaddis, 2018). Its disadvantage is that although biases may be uncovered, it does less to tell us the reasons why people are biased toward different groups.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This study used the audit method—one of the most widely used forms of field experiment—to uncover potential provider biases (Gaddis, 2018). The audit method is advantageous because it can be used to detect behaviors and decision-making in real-world scenarios that are difficult to ascertain using observational methods, interviews, or self-reports that may be susceptible to social desirability effects.…”

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confidence: 99%

Email me back: Examining provider biases through email return and responsiveness.

Hwang¹,

Fujimoto²

2022

Journal of Counseling Psychology

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The majority of research on accessing and utilizing mental health services has focused on patient barriers to care. Few studies have explored possible provider biases that may impact client access at point of entry. Using the audit method, we conducted an email-based field experiment to investigate the responsiveness of psychotherapy providers to inquiries from simulated patients with different backgrounds (i.e., race, gender, diagnosis, and ability to pay). A total of 725 therapists (176 men, 549 women) practicing in Chicago, Illinois were identified from an online therapist directory and randomized to receive emails requesting therapy appointments. Overall, 21.7% of providers did not return prospective client email inquiries; 32.5% of providers were somewhat responsive in that they returned an email despite not being able to take on the client; and 45.7% were highly responsive in that they returned an email and offered an appointment or the opportunity to discuss the matter further. Male providers were less responsive to African American and Latinx simulated clients and most responsive to White clients, whereas female providers were more likely to respond similarly to all simulated clients. Moreover, regardless of the providers' gender, they were more responsive to simulated patients with depression than to simulated patients with schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder (BPD). Finally, providers were more responsive to those who could pay the full fee than to those who requested a sliding scale. Educating providers on these possible biases is important because it could help reduce biased behaviors and improve access to care for vulnerable populations. Public Significance StatementEthnic minorities face many individual and structural barriers to accessing treatment. This study found that providers can act as a barrier to patient care by not being responsive to email inquiries, and that providers may be less responsive to stigmatized disorders and those requesting financial accommodations. Moreover, we found that male providers were less responsive than female providers to ethnic minority patients. Addressing provider biases through cultural competency trainings is important to improving access to care.

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Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance

Cited by 75 publications

References 189 publications

Gender discrimination in hiring: An experimental reexamination of the Swedish case

Gender discrimination in hiring: An experimental reexamination of the Swedish case

Audit Studies of Housing in the United States: Established, Emerging, and Future Research

Email me back: Examining provider biases through email return and responsiveness.

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