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A Broad View of Regional ScienceGroup-Size Bias in the Measurement of Residential Sorting

A Broad View of Regional Science: Group-Size Bias in the Measurement of Residential Sorting [We revisit in this chapter a common issue with popular indices used for measuring residential sorting, i.e. the extent to which a subgroup of the population is spatially distributed (sorted or segregated) differently from the remainder of the population. Specifically, we show that three common measures of residential sorting (viz. the Index of Segregation, the Index of Isolation and the Entropy Index of Segregation) are affected by group size, i.e. the expected values of the indices are positive rather than zero under random sorting, and the size of this positive bias is related to group size. This is an important issue because it is common to compare sorting indices across groups of rather different sizes, both cross-sectionally and over time. Using New Zealand data, we demonstrate group-size impact on bias in measures of residential sorting by means of scatter plots and regression in four different ways: (1) investigating the relationship between group size and each residential sorting measure calculated with actual data; (2) randomly allocating individuals across area units, calculating the resulting residential sorting measures, and again investigating the relationship between index values and group size; (3) showing that normalised/systematic indices of sorting are also related to group size; and (4) calculating the bias for each sorting index and investigating the relationship with group size. Our empirical illustration uses microdata on the self-reported ethnicity of individuals (with multiple responses possible) from five New Zealand Censuses of Population and Dwellings (1991–2013) for the Auckland region, selected due to its high ethnic diversity. Our results demonstrate that the Entropy Index of Systematic Segregation measure of residential sorting is the measure that is least affected by group size variation. As a result, we strongly recommend using this index of sorting as a preferred measure.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Broad View of Regional ScienceGroup-Size Bias in the Measurement of Residential Sorting

Part of the New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives Book Series (volume 47)
Editors: Suzuki, Soushi; Patuelli, Roberto
Mondal, Mohana; Cameron, Michael P.; Poot, Jacques
A Broad View of Regional Science — Jan 20, 2021
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23 pages

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Publisher
Springer Singapore
Copyright
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
ISBN
978-981-33-4097-8
Pages
113 –136
DOI
10.1007/978-981-33-4098-5_7
Publisher site
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Abstract

[We revisit in this chapter a common issue with popular indices used for measuring residential sorting, i.e. the extent to which a subgroup of the population is spatially distributed (sorted or segregated) differently from the remainder of the population. Specifically, we show that three common measures of residential sorting (viz. the Index of Segregation, the Index of Isolation and the Entropy Index of Segregation) are affected by group size, i.e. the expected values of the indices are positive rather than zero under random sorting, and the size of this positive bias is related to group size. This is an important issue because it is common to compare sorting indices across groups of rather different sizes, both cross-sectionally and over time. Using New Zealand data, we demonstrate group-size impact on bias in measures of residential sorting by means of scatter plots and regression in four different ways: (1) investigating the relationship between group size and each residential sorting measure calculated with actual data; (2) randomly allocating individuals across area units, calculating the resulting residential sorting measures, and again investigating the relationship between index values and group size; (3) showing that normalised/systematic indices of sorting are also related to group size; and (4) calculating the bias for each sorting index and investigating the relationship with group size. Our empirical illustration uses microdata on the self-reported ethnicity of individuals (with multiple responses possible) from five New Zealand Censuses of Population and Dwellings (1991–2013) for the Auckland region, selected due to its high ethnic diversity. Our results demonstrate that the Entropy Index of Systematic Segregation measure of residential sorting is the measure that is least affected by group size variation. As a result, we strongly recommend using this index of sorting as a preferred measure.]

Published: Jan 20, 2021

Keywords: Residential sorting; Segregation; Group-size bias; Entropy index; C18; J19; Z13; R23

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