Reliability Concerns in Measuring Respondent Skin Tone by Interviewer Observation

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, Social Science, United States on 2016-05-29 15:50Z by Steven

Reliability Concerns in Measuring Respondent Skin Tone by Interviewer Observation

Public Opinion Quarterly
Volume 80, Issue 2 (2016)
DOI: 10.1093/poq/nfw015
pages 534-541

Lance Hannon, Professor
Department of Sociology & Criminology
Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania

Robert DeFina, Professor
Department of Sociology & Criminology
Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania

The current study assesses the intercoder reliability of one of the most important skin tone measurement instruments—the Massey–Martin scale. This scale is used in several high-profile social surveys, but has not yet been psychometrically evaluated. The current evaluation is only possible because, for the first time, the General Social Survey’s 2010–2014 panel used the instrument to guide interviewers’ skin tone observation of the same respondents in two different years (2012 and 2014). Despite the widespread use of the Massey–Martin scale to investigate potential effects of skin tone on social attitudes and outcomes, the data suggest that the measure has low intercoder reliability. Implications for researchers and survey practitioners are discussed.

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Are Americans Really in Favor of Interracial Marriage? A Closer Look at When They Are Asked About Black-White Marriage for Their Relatives

Posted in Articles, Media Archive, Social Science, United States on 2014-07-24 07:05Z by Steven

Are Americans Really in Favor of Interracial Marriage? A Closer Look at When They Are Asked About Black-White Marriage for Their Relatives

Journal of Black Studies
Published online before print: 2014-07-10
DOI: 10.1177/0021934714541840

Yanyi K. Djamba, Director, Center for Demographic Research; Professor of Sociology
Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama

Sitawa R. Kimuna, Associate Professor of Sociology
East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina

This study transcends general opinion reports and uses data from the General Social Survey (GSS) to examine responses on attitudinal questions about how Black and White Americans actually feel about their close relative marrying outside their own race. The results show that more than half (54%) of Black Americans are in favor of their close relative marrying a White person compared with nearly one-in-four (26%) White Americans who said they were in favor of their close relative marrying a Black person. Such results suggest that questions about how individuals feel when close relatives engage into Black-White marriage provide better measures of attitude toward racial exogamy. Logistic regression models are analyzed to determine how socio-demographic factors influence Black and White Americans’ views on interracial marriage of their close relatives.

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