Don’t Know or Won’t Say? Exploring How Colorblind Norms Shape Item Nonresponse in Social Surveys

Abstract

Colorblind norms play an important role in shaping how people discuss race. There is reason to believe that these norms also affect the ways respondents interact with social surveys. Specifically, some respondents may be using nonresponse as a tactic to not discuss race in social surveys. If this is the case, very different demographics of respondents would be most prone to nonresponse, and the phenomenon should also vary on the basis of the interviewer’s race. The author conducted bivariate and multivariate analysis of the Chicago Area Study to examine whether colorblindness may be promoting “don’t know” responses and item refusals. The author finds that nonresponse to a perceived race of interviewer item follows a distinct pattern consistent with previous research on colorblind norms. For example, white respondents have nearly five times the rate of nonresponse compared with blacks and Latinos. Bolstering the colorblindness theory, an interracial interview context nearly triples the nonresponse rate compared with same-race interviews. Findings of this research have important implications for both survey researchers using social surveys to examine race and racial attitudes and race scholars who seek to understand the prevalence of colorblind norms across society.

Race as an Open Field: Exploring Identity beyond Fixed Choices

“…Research in social psychology shows colorblindness may also be situational and transactional, for example when Whites avoid attributing racial identifiers to others, particularly when interacting with someone of a different race (Apfelbaum, Norton, and Sommers 2012; Apfelbaum, Sommers, and Norton 2008). In surveys, this may be seen in nonresponses on questions relating to race (Alexander forthcoming). It can also be seen in the relatively large number of Americans who see themselves as “colorblind” (Hartmann et al 2017).…”

Racial Ideology and White Youth: From Middle Childhood to Adolescence

“…Finally, my positionality shaped the data I gathered and my interpretations of it. Research with white people about race presents unique challenges, such as respondents’ refusing to answer questions about their racial attitudes or claiming that they do not notice race whatsoever (Alexander 2017; Lewis 2004). My own whiteness shaped the research process, facilitating access to and rapport building with participants.…”

Recognition and Disregard: The Relationship Between Racial Apathy and Liberal Reforms on Monetary Sanctions

“…To date, few inquiries have taken up the construct of racial apathy and those that do tend to study it among whites only (e.g., Alexander 2018;Brown et al 2019;Lewis 2006, 2015). Our project joins recent work by Brown et al (2020) by departing from a singular focus on whites to consider whether other groups adhere to racial apathy as well.…”

“…To date, few inquiries have taken up the construct of racial apathy and those that do tend to study it among whites only (e.g., Alexander 2018; Brown et al. 2019; Forman and Lewis 2006, 2015).…”