Neighbourhood Effects: Lost in Transition?
Abstract
The study of neighbourhood effects has become a major domain in urban research since the publication of Wilson’s book The Truly Disadvantaged in 1987. It is estimated that more than 1,800 articles have been published (van Ham et al. 2012). One of the problems well-known from multilevel analysis is that of specifying the context effects linking levels, e.g., conditions on the aggregate level to outcomes at the next lower level, individuals in most cases. Two problems seem insufficiently solved. First., many different context effects have been suggested, such as contagion, role models or discrimination: but it is questionable whether they are all relevant. Second, how exactly can the transition from the macro (e.g., neighbourhood) to the micro (e.g., individual) level be specified? The article addresses both problems by examining the assumptions underlying the effects. Differentiating between causes and outcomes, the diversity of effects is reduced to five types of effects. Mechanisms are defined as specifications of context effects, and for each type a mechanism is specified and the causes are related to the outcomes. Drawing on the results of the analyses, a detailed set of suggestions for future studies of neighbourhood effects that really capture the mechanisms is presented.
© 2016 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Contents
- Explaining and Understanding by Answering ‘Why’ and ‘How’ Questions: A Programmatic Introduction to the Special Issue Social Mechanisms
- Part I. Explanatory and Analytical: Understanding the Contexts, Core, and Collective Outcomes of Action
- Social Mechanisms as Special Cases of Explanatory Sociology: Notes toward Systemizing and Expanding Mechanism-based Explanation within Sociology
- Social Mechanisms of Corruption: Analytical Sociology and Its Applicability to Corruption Research
- Neighbourhood Effects: Lost in Transition?
- Part II. Bridging the Gap with Quantitative Survey Research
- Social Mechanisms in Norm-relevant Situations: Explanations for Theft by Finding in High-cost, and Low-cost Situation
- Social Mechanisms and Empirical Research in the Field of Sociology of the Family: The Case of Separation and Divorce
- Contextualizing Cognitive Consonance by a Social Mechanisms Explanation: Moderators of Selective Exposure in Media Usage
- Part III. Experiments, Agent-Based Modeling, and Mixed Methods
- The Use of Field Experiments to Study Mechanisms of Discrimination
- Rational Laziness - When Time Is Limited, Supply Abundant, and Decisions Have to Be Made
- How the Mechanism of Dynamic Representation Affects Policy Change and Stability
- Opening the Black Box. How the Study of Social Mechanisms Can Benefit from the Use of Explanatory Mixed Methods
- A Methodological Outlook on Causal Identification and Empirical Methods for the Analysis of Social Mechanism
- Authors
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Contents
- Explaining and Understanding by Answering ‘Why’ and ‘How’ Questions: A Programmatic Introduction to the Special Issue Social Mechanisms
- Part I. Explanatory and Analytical: Understanding the Contexts, Core, and Collective Outcomes of Action
- Social Mechanisms as Special Cases of Explanatory Sociology: Notes toward Systemizing and Expanding Mechanism-based Explanation within Sociology
- Social Mechanisms of Corruption: Analytical Sociology and Its Applicability to Corruption Research
- Neighbourhood Effects: Lost in Transition?
- Part II. Bridging the Gap with Quantitative Survey Research
- Social Mechanisms in Norm-relevant Situations: Explanations for Theft by Finding in High-cost, and Low-cost Situation
- Social Mechanisms and Empirical Research in the Field of Sociology of the Family: The Case of Separation and Divorce
- Contextualizing Cognitive Consonance by a Social Mechanisms Explanation: Moderators of Selective Exposure in Media Usage
- Part III. Experiments, Agent-Based Modeling, and Mixed Methods
- The Use of Field Experiments to Study Mechanisms of Discrimination
- Rational Laziness - When Time Is Limited, Supply Abundant, and Decisions Have to Be Made
- How the Mechanism of Dynamic Representation Affects Policy Change and Stability
- Opening the Black Box. How the Study of Social Mechanisms Can Benefit from the Use of Explanatory Mixed Methods
- A Methodological Outlook on Causal Identification and Empirical Methods for the Analysis of Social Mechanism
- Authors
