Infographic: Supermarket Redlining Consequences and Choices

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Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation Internet Research Event Was Informative and Disappointing

 

Access to the Internet is an important topic these days, especially as it influences the education and general quality of life for families that have limited access to the Internet.  About 30 interested people, including myself, were eager to learn about the results of a recent study of Internet access among families in the Dallas Independent School District.  The research symposium, sponsored by the non-partisan Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (TXHPF), was informative and revealed four key findings:

·        Hispanic families, especially the Spanish speaking segment, struggle with accessing broadband access to the Internet in their homes.

·        The primary reason for this lack of access is that broadband access was too expensive.

·        Also problematic is that families, especially Spanish speakers, lacked awareness of discounted packages to obtain broadband access in their homes.

·        Recommendations were made for broadband providers to launch Spanish-language campaigns to raise awareness of their discounted broadband plans among Hispanic families.

 

The research was conducted under the direction of Dr. Doug Jones, a recognized expert in Latin American studies who did an excellent job of presenting the study results.  A discussion of the study methodology was summarized by one slide at the end of the presentation.  Questions from the audience were then requested by TXHPF Director Jason Villalba.

Aside from interest in the research topic, research professionals such as myself are accustomed to asking questions about the study methodology. In the research courses that I teach, I usually advise students to resist embracing the results of any research study before understanding its methodology and the study limitations – especially in studies of multicultural audiences which often includes various sources of bias. Unfortunately, when it was my turn to ask some questions, Mr. Villalba abruptly interrupted me as I was beginning to introduce myself and praising their efforts by asking:  “Is there a question somewhere here?”  I was surprised by this interruption and offered to postpone my questions and allow other audience members to ask their questions.  Interestingly, Mr. Villalba did not interrupt the questions from other audience members.  I decided to raise my hand again to make a few observations and Mr. Villalba politely listened this time without interruption.

It was an especially disappointing experience to observe such a deliberate effort to mute criticism of such an important study. Indeed, I may have been the only recognized expert in the audience with decades of experience in conducting studies of Latino, Black and Asian audiences and continue to teach such related courses at area universities. Researchers ordinarily welcome feedback from research colleagues and often use the feedback to improve the design of research studies.  Following are some of the methodological concerns and observations that I was attempting to share about the study:

·        Reported levels of broadband access do not necessarily mean that families to not have access to the Internet.  Many obtain Internet access through their wireless devices alone.

·        Access to the Internet, whether through broadband or cell phones, is not the only or most important barrier.  Other research confirms that Hispanics experience navigational issues, anxieties and fears about sharing personal information on the Internet.  

·        It is not surprising that Hispanic response rates were strong to text-oriented efforts to complete a survey.  Pew Research has confirmed the value of cell phones in much of the research that they have conducted in past years.  Our research experience in Texas has shown a similar trend.

·        Telephone interviews, while involving more costs than other modes, is second only to personal interviews in being the most effective mode to obtain in-depth, reliable information from Hispanic and Black persons.  Responses to Census surveys confirms this trend.  Telephone interviews are not prohibitively expensive and lead to higher response rates when coupled with incentives and other modes.

·        Launching a Spanish-language campaign to increase broadband access among Hispanic families is premature and not supported by the research findings.  Hispanics who speak Spanish are not necessarily literate – that is, immigrants have limited education and often cannot read or write in Spanish despite having a speaking ability.  Consequently, different modes of advertisement may be needed.  Also, research did not address the issue of advertising effectiveness – that is, which aspects of the discounted programs offered by the broadband providers were considered undesirable by Hispanic families?

 

These are just a few of the observations that I made from the scant details provided about the study methodology at the event.  I would encourage Mr. Villalba, Director of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, to be more transparent about the methodology of their sponsored research and to encourage, not discourage, questions about all aspects of these studies.  I would also encourage the public to not embrace the results of any research study until they understand the methodology that was used to collect the information --- especially when the target audience includes Blacks, Latinos or Asians.

Dollar Stores and Rats: Can You Smell the Irony?

In case you missed it in the news recently, two events took place independently but seem nonetheless closely related. Progressive Grocer, a food industry publication, recently published a story celebrating the business success of Dollar General stores and deemed them “Retailer of the Year.” [1] Why?  Due to their phenomenal growth in the U.S. and their sound economic standing. Last year, Dollar General commanded 18,000 stores with sales of $33.7 billion in 2021.   The dollar store industry is growing rapidly – from 20,000 to 30,000 between 2015 and 2018 and up to 50,000 additional stores are planned in the near future. [2]  As shown by the figure below, Texas had the most dollar stores (3,400), followed by Florida (2,100) and Ohio (1,700). 

In a webinar that I published recently, [3] I questioned the wisdom of celebrating such an achievement in the dollar store industry.  Yes, phenomenal expansions and sales are important metrics in the business world.  But the desire to celebrate this achievement was diminished as one ponders the documented harm caused by dollar stores in communities throughout the U.S., especially food deserts that are the primary focus of their marketing strategy.  You see, food deserts are populated primarily by lower-income blacks and Latinos who show a higher prevalence of chronic illnesses that are directly associated with consuming the types of unhealthy foods sold by dollar stores. [4]  Mainstream supermarkets have made it a practice of avoiding food deserts, often citing social indicators that lower profitability.  If true, then what is driving the phenomenal growth and success of dollar stores --- sheer luck?   The reality is that food deserts often show substantial food expenditures that are derived from employment income and SNAP food benefits – a fact that is well documented by federal sources of information such as the Census Bureau and USDA. [5]

The second noteworthy event is the story about 1,000 rodents that were discovered recently at the Family Dollar store distribution center in Arkansas. According to the story, the FDA announced a recall for items purchased at stores in six southern states. The FDA inspection followed a consumer complaint which discovered inside the building live rodents, dead rodents in “various states of decay,” rodent feces, dead birds and bird droppings. [6] In their news release, Family Dollar listed the 404 stores that may have sold products from the contaminated facility, while it also stated that the company "is not aware of any consumer complaints or reports of illness related to this recall."  Is it possible that the absence of any consumer complaints or reports of illnesses may have provided Family Dollar executives a false sense of security about food safety and therefore precluded the need to conduct regular store inspections?  Indeed, there were dead rodents and others in various stages of decay that could have been present for weeks or months.  Shouldn’t food distribution systems be inspected on a regular schedule and not dependent on consumer complaints?  It was indeed surprising that one consumer complaint was the singular event that initiated the FDA inspection.   

This horrific state of decay in the Family Dollar distribution system should raise alarm bells about food safety at all dollar stores, especially given their rapid growth and their primary customer base – economically and medically vulnerable persons.  Our business and civic leaders, who for the moment appear inspired to address race equity issues, should be held accountable by consumers and require a response to the following three important questions:

• How often are dollar store distribution centers in the U.S. inspected by the FDA? Are these schedules of inspection similar for centers that serve communities with food deserts?
  
  
• Why have zoning laws not been adopted to limit the growth of dollar stores?, and
  
  
• When will public agencies stop incentivizing supermarket chains who continue to avoid food deserts and instead choose to enter communities that are already crowded with multiple supermarkets?

I feel a deep sense of compassion for the many residents in food deserts that find it necessary to purchase food at dollar stores to feed their families, especially knowing how easily rats can make a dollar store distribution warehouse their home for an extended period of time. The prolonged indifference shown by various stakeholders towards this issue --- including supermarket chains, dollar stores, business and civic leaders, and the FDA --- could encourage rat infestations to spread throughout food systems in the more vulnerable communities.  Let’s hope that bolder and more aggressive efforts are taken to ensure the food safety for all communities, especially the most vulnerable ones.

 Reference Notes

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[1] Troy, M.  (2021)   2021 Retailer of the Year. Progressive Grocer, Accessed at: https://progressivegrocer.com/2021-retailer-year-dollar-general

[2]  Donahue, M. (2018 December).  The Impact of Dollar Stores and How Communities Can Fight Back,  Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Accessed at www.ilsr.org/dollar-stores

[3] Rincon, E. T. (2022)  Food Deserts:  Evaluating Their Economic Value. Rincon & Associates LLC, Accessed at:  https://youtu.be/sAGrlnAR8ug?t=00m00s

[4] Ibid 2, Donahue, M.

[5] Rincon, E.T. and Tiwari, C. (2020 March).  Demand metric for supermarket site selection: A case study. Papers in Applied Geography, https://doi.org/10.1080/23754931.2020.1712555

[6]  Associated Press (2022 February)  More than 1,000 rodents found in Family Dollar facility lead to recall of items sold in 6 states. USA Today, accessed at:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2022/02/19/family-dollar-rodent-infestation/6860094001/

Governor Gregg Abbott: It is definitely time to step down.

 

As the Texas gubernatorial race for 2022 heats up, news coverage strongly suggests that it might be a slam dunk for Gov. Abbott.  Indeed, the governor continues to raise lots of campaign money and a recent poll has Abbott leading Beto O’Rourke by 11 points in a hypothetical match-up. [i] The governor was also spared the political pain of overseeing another failure of the electrical grid system in Texas. A careful look at the polling data and a review of several controversial policies supported by Gov. Abbott suggest that his campaign may not be out of the woods.

Polling Data Results on Favorability

Despite Abbott’s 11-point edge over Beto O’Rourke, only 51 percent of Texas registered voters approved of his job as governor – mostly white Republicans. The poll data also showed that:

·       71 percent of Blacks and 50 percent of Latinos disapproved of Abbott’s job performance as governor, and

·       57 percent of Blacks and 44 percent of Latinos had a favorable impression of Beto O’Rourke.

Assuming a significant turnout by Black and Latino voters, Gov. Abbott’s candidacy could be in jeopardy.   Of course, Gov. Abbott may feel confident that the various laws recently passed to restrict voter participation will ensure a weak turnout by Black and Latino voters, but aggressive voter turnout campaigns could overcome these barriers.

Polling Data on Texas Energy Grid

·       While Gov. Abbott may feel confident that the Texas electricity grid held up during the current winter storm, nearly half (47%) of registered voters were not confident that the state’s electricity grid was prepared to avoid blackouts this winter.

·       Interestingly, in a related Dallas Morning News story, [ii] it was revealed that the demand on Texas’ grid had topped out at 60 gigawatts on Friday morning and that this demand “never came near the record levels seen during last year’s winter storm that brought the grid to a near collapse.” In other words, Gov. Abbott deserves little credit for the adequate performance of the electricity grid this year since we were all blessed with a milder winter that demanded less electricity.

Past Performance

Gov. Abbott, however, does deserve credit for the many public policies that he and his fellow Republicans have supported to the detriment of our quality of life in Texas, especially for Black and Latino residents.  If you plan to vote for Gov. Abbott this March, you should take a moment to reflect on the following policies and judge whether he really deserves your vote.

·       Texas Electricity Grid Remains Vulnerable:  Your lack of action to prevent the electricity grid crisis resulted in the loss of more than 240 lives. As the primary steward of this state, you are responsible for this failure since you appointed the members of the Public Utility Commission who ignored the advice of industry experts for more than a decade to prepare for extreme weather. You cannot hide behind the performance of the grid in 2022 since the system benefited from milder weather conditions. You have yet to explain why recent efforts to improve the weatherization of our infrastructure was not conducted years earlier when it was recommended by industry energy experts.

·       Texas gun laws allow anyone to purchase a gun without a license or training.  Beto O-Rourke is not alone in objecting to this legislation and has the support of various police organizations.  The recent massacre of 23 Latinos and two dozen injuries in El Paso underscores the stupidity driving this legislation and the legislature’s refusal to enact stiff gun control laws.[iii]  It makes little sense, indeed, to support pro-life policies related to abortion laws, while simultaneously making it easier for Texans to end lives by making it easier to access firearms. In addition to the increase of mass shootings, Texas was the second state, following Florida, with the most road rage incidents involving a firearm in 2022. [iv] Not exactly a badge of honor, Gov. Abbott.

·       During the early phases of the COVID-19 crisis, your vaccination and mask mandate policies created confusion and increased the risk of infection and mortalities for many Texans.  Indeed, you decided to lift the mask mandate against the important advice of health experts and other key trends -- Johns Hopkins University showing low vaccination rates and  high positivity rates for Texas; Hispanic mortality rates were four times higher than whites; and Black mortality rates were twice the rate of whites. You also threatened to block the distribution of vaccines allocated to Dallas County because local public officials were planning to target vaccines to the more vulnerable Black and Latino zip codes. Texas Blacks and Latinos were already experiencing greater exposure to COVID-19 due to their jobs, housing arrangements and limited access to vaccination sites.    

·       Falsely claiming that the surge of migrants at the Texas border would lead to a rise in the spread of COVID-19.  But border agencies that process migrants confirmed that they routinely quarantined and tested migrants for COVID-19 prior to entry and release. In addition, Gov. Abbott had refused federal funds that Texas, local governments and non-profits could use to test all migrants for the virus.

·       Falsely claiming that immigrants made crime worse in Texas. Studies addressing this issue in Texas have confirmed that immigrants commit fewer crimes, on average, than native-born Americans. [v]

Gov. Abbott, it is time for you to accept responsibility for your poor judgment and poor performance in these areas.   Your administration presided over the decisions regarding the energy crisis that led to the deaths of more than 240 Texans and caused significant damage to the state’s infrastructure. Your administration generated significant confusion during the COVID-19 crisis and threatened to block the allocation of vaccines to vulnerable Black and Latino communities in Dallas County. And your administration lifted the mask mandate despite objections by medical experts, an action that contributed to higher mortality rates of Texas Blacks and Latinos. You also created fear and hysteria by falsely associating higher crime rates with immigrants and blaming migrants for spreading the COVID-19 virus.

In planning for the Texas gubernatorial race on March of 2022, let’s hope that voters will remember the series of public policy failures and false information campaigns that took place under the watch of Gov. Abbott.  There is really no one else to blame.

---

[i] Garrett, R. T. (Jan. 2022).  Abbott running comfortably ahead of O’Rourke in DMN-UT-Tyler poll; Paxton could face runoff. The Dallas Morning News, Accessed at:  https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/01/29/abbott-running-comfortably-ahead-of-orourke-in-dmn-ut-tyler-poll-paxton-could-face-runoff/

[ii] Jankowski, P. (February 2022).  Texas electric grid weathers winter blast, showing it’s ‘more reliable’ than ever, Greg Abbott says.  The Dallas Morning News, Accessed at: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/02/04/power-grid-holding-up-as-gov-greg-abbott-gets-set-to-update-texans-on-impact-of-ongoing-freeze/

[iii]  Silva, C.  (August 2021). White supremacy, racism: Remembering the El Paso massacre that targeted Latinos. NBCNews.com, Accessed at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/white-supremacy-racism-remembering-el-paso-massacre-targeted-latinos-rcna1580

[iv]  Borelli, L. (July 2021). Road rage statistics 2022. BankRate.com, accessed at:  https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/road-rage-statistics/#stats

[v] Nowraster, A. (2018, February 26). Criminal immigrants in Texas.  The CATO Institute, Accessed at: https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/irpb-4-updated.pdf 

Innovative Crime-Fighting Tool: Just Hide the Crime Data

 

It sounds incredible.  In their effort to protect the safety of crime victims and police officers,  the Dallas Police Department recently initiated a policy to block public access to crime data – a decision that was approved by Chief of Police Eddie Garcia and under review by the Dallas City Council. [1] It is difficult to understand how this decision helps to build public confidence in policing at a time when trust in law enforcement has been in serious decline.  Indeed, who benefits by this lack of transparency and accountability?  Chief Garcia explains that Dallas is following a similar practice as other U.S. cities in redacting crime data; however, some of these cities face pending lawsuits for blocking public access to crime data.  In Texas, the Texas Public Information Act requires that basic information about an arrested person, arrest or crime may not be withheld from the public. 

The Dallas access policy has angered many stakeholders that rely on easy access to crime data, especially some news organizations that are consulting attorneys to evaluate the legality of the policy. The concern by journalists was underscored in a recent statement by Dallas Morning News Executive Director Katrice Hardy:

“Our role as a news organization is to seek information to help our community stay informed.  The public has a right to know and understand how safe their community is,” Hardy said “This change limits access to critical information that keeps us informed about the welfare of our community.  Where crimes occur and who is impacted is basic information.  This is the opposite of transparency and has far-reaching implications.” [2]

Common sense tells us that public access to crime data is essential for many reasons.  For example, how would criminologists develop models of crime prevention without access to crime data?  How would crime fighting tools and policing resources be allocated without the guidance of crime data?  Indeed, knowing the types of crimes that are committed, the victims of crime and the locations where crimes are committed forms the very foundation for crime prevention programs. 

Faced with increased scrutiny by the public and legislators, the law enforcement community has increasingly opted to hide, delay or distort crime data.  For example, many police departments throughout the U.S. have been under-reporting hate crimes [3] as perhaps one way to protect the image of their city.  On a voluntary basis, police departments are expected to submit crime reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation which are made accessible to the public on the Uniform Crime Reports web site; unfortunately, many police departments do not submit crime data to the FBI portal. [4]  By blocking access to crime data, researchers and the public who want to fact check news reports about crime trends in their communities will be unable to do so.  These practices undermine public safety by preventing residents from monitoring crime activity and trends in their communities.

When crime data is distorted or falsified, it also does great harm to the economic development of a community. Retailers, for example, often avoid doing business in predominantly Black or Latino communities due to reports or perceptions of high crime rates. To challenge this practice, a team of investigators recently conducted a study of food deserts in a predominantly Black community in Dallas, Texas [5] and analyzed police department crime files to fact check perceptions of high crime rates frequently reported by the media. Using geospatial analysis, the research team found that crime patterns were not much higher in the food desert communities when compared to the non-food desert communities, and that several food deserts showed promising economic potential for a mainstream supermarket.  It was particularly disturbing, however, to find that a team of academic researchers had reported inflated crimes rates in this community [6] without presenting verifiable evidence.  Without access to original crime data from the Dallas Police Department, however, this type of fact checking would not have been possible.

News organizations should be commended for taking the bold step to legally challenge these policies. But news organizations will need more support to reinforce their advocacy from a broad spectrum of stakeholders who depend on the timely and accurate release of crime data, including research organizations, non-profits focused on crime prevention, chambers of commerce, and the general public.

  

Reference Notes

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[1] Smith, K. (2021, November). Dallas deletes information about crime from public view, plans more redactions and delays. Dallas Morning News, Accessed at:

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/11/08/dallas-deletes-information-about-crime-from-public-view-plans-more-redactions-and-delays/ 

[2] Ibid.

[3] Pezzella, F.S, Fetzer, M.D. and Keller, T. (2019, January). The dark figure of hate crime under-reporting. American Behavioral Scientist. Accessed at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002764218823844?journalCode=absb

[4] Uniform Crime Reports.  Accessed at: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr

[5] Rincon, E.T. and Tiwari, C. (2020 March). Demand metric for supermarket site selection: A case study. Papers in Applied Geography.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23754931.2020.1712555

[6] Crowe, J., C. Lacy, and Y. Columbus (2019). Barriers to food security and community stress in an urban food desert. Urban Science 2 (2):46

Haitian immigrants at the Texas border deserve better treatment

 

Such is the vision inscribed at the Statue of Liberty that for generations has represented America’s ideal for welcoming previous waves of immigrants to our nation.   The thousands of Haitian immigrants that recently arrived at the southern U.S. border, however, were met with border patrols on horseback using lariats to control the crowds of immigrants --- not exactly the welcoming committee that would ordinarily alleviate the pain and hunger of traumatized victims.

President Biden deserves some of the blame for this surge for publicly announcing that his administration would promote more humane immigration policies. However, immigration from Mexico has declined dramatically in recent years despite Biden’s promotion of more humane immigration policies  – an outcome that reflects how the flow of immigration can be controlled when countries collaborate to achieve mutual goals.

President Biden, however, does not deserve all of the blame for the surge of Haitian immigrants. What energized the surge of Haitians was a devastating earthquake, the assassination of the country’s president, the failed Haitian economy, and the proliferation of crime --- clearly events beyond Biden’s control.  Moreover, history tells us that President Biden is not alone in encouraging more humane immigration policies. Indeed, numerous past presidents have issued executive orders to protect the status of various immigrants from different countries. [i]

While our political leaders decide on the ultimate disposition of Haitian immigrants, we should all be alarmed at the treatment that these immigrants have received at the Texas border.  Rather than comfort these immigrants who have experienced considerable trauma in their home countries and their travel to our border,  we instead decide to return them as quickly as possible to their home countries where their lives will remain in danger from crime and food deprivation.  On the other hand, the U.S. does have some choices to consider.

Our country is a nation of immigrants whose economic and intellectual growth has been fueled by the presence of immigrants.  As we ponder the decision to deport Haitian immigrants to their home countries, perhaps we need a brief reminder of the many ways in which immigrants have benefited our country:

·        Immigrants have often met the demand for labor shortages in such industries as food, hospitality, construction, and healthcare.  As a result of the pandemic and restrictive immigration policies, our nation is in dire need of more employees. Studies have shown that immigration provides a younger workforce, the entrepreneurial workers, and the skilled employees needed for essential industries such as healthcare, construction, agriculture, and food processing. [ii]

·        Non-citizens have historically served an important mission in defense of the U.S.  According to the Department of Defense, non-citizen recruits are likely to possess language and cultural skills that are of strategic importance to military operations outside of the U.S.  Between 2016 to 2020, there were 29, 970 non-citizens that were approved for naturalization in the U.S. military. [iii]  The top five countries represented by non-citizens in the military included Philippines, Mexico, China, South Korea and Jamaica.

·        The Social Security trust fund has been kept solvent in part from the substantial contributions made by unauthorized immigrant workers. Undocumented immigrants contributed $13 billion into the Social Security funds in 2016. While they make contributions, undocumented immigrants are not eligible to receive social security benefits. [iv]

·        Immigrants have contributed substantially to scientific innovation in the U.S.:    In the United States since 1976, citizens of foreign countries have filed 25 percent to 30 percent of patents. Indeed, immigrants file patents at double the rate of native-born Americans because they are more likely to hold science and engineering degrees. [v]

Given the many contributions that immigrants have made to the U.S. and the current labor shortages across many industries, perhaps we should pause to remember the virtues inscribed in the Statue of Liberty and offer the Haitian immigrants the same opportunity that previous waves of immigrants have experienced upon arrival to our nation.  Indeed, if the situation were reversed and U.S. residents were forced to seek humanitarian assistance from our global neighbors, would we want to be greeted by troopers on horseback using a lariat upon our arrival?  Probably not.

Reference Notes

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[i] Desilver, D. (2014, November 21).  Executive actions on immigration have long history, Pew Research Center, Accessed at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/21/executive-actions-on-immigration-have-long-history/

[ii] The Labor Law Review. (2021, August 26).  Immigration and labor shortages. Accessed at:   https://www.natlawreview.com/article/immigration-and-labor-shortages

[iii]   U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization Services. Military Naturalization Statistics. Accessed on 9-24-21 at: https://www.uscis.gov/military/military-naturalization-statistics

[iv]  New American Economy.  Undocumented immigrants.  Accessed on 9-24-21 at:   https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/issues/undocumented-immigrants/#economic-contributors,-not-criminals

[v] Nowrasteh, A. (2020, May 14).  Don’t Ban H-1B Workers: They Are Worth Their Weight in Innovation, CATO Institute, Accessed at: https://www.cato.org/blog/dont-ban-h-1b-workers-they-are-worth-their-weight-patents  

Unsatisfactory Audience Ratings of Minorities a Factor in Loss of Nielsen’s Accreditation Status

 

Two recent events – seemly unrelated -- should give survey practitioners cause for concern when conducting studies of multicultural audiences.   First, two recent articles in Advertising Age announced that Nielsen had lost its accreditation from the Media Ratings Council – big news since Nielsen ratings have been the gold standard in television ratings for many decades.[1]    Part of the reason for the loss of their accreditation, according to the Advertising Age article, is the dissatisfaction of industry subscribers with the ratings of minority audiences. [2]  Although little detail was provided about Nielsen’s minority audience ratings, it is common knowledge that concerns about the ratings of minority audiences have been documented in past years.  Indeed, one study of Latino television audiences funded by ABC and CBS television networks challenged the television ratings of The George Lopez Show and found that Latino audiences were significantly under-estimated due to greater weight being placed on the television ratings for Latino immigrants – not the primary audience for The George Lopez Show. [3]

The second event is a recently published industry report by an American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Task Force that studied the transition of telephone surveys to self-administered and mixed-mode studies.[4] AAPOR is a global organization whose membership includes public opinion and survey professionals from the private, public and academic sectors. Importantly, AAPOR provides research and leadership on issues and trends that influence the quality of measuring public opinion. The task force report was intended to guide the research industry during this transition by reviewing the most recent research on mixed-mode studies and offering recommendations for survey practice. While the report is an excellent review of the relevant research, it was incomplete in one important way: it was race neutral.  That is, it failed to review important research on mixed mode studies that documented key race-ethnic differences. [5]  The modest discussion of language factors also overlooked the important work by the Census Bureau and other investigators. [6]  Furthermore, this writer presented relevant research on race-ethnicity and language factors in mixed mode studies to the AAPOR virtual conference on June 11, 2020. [7]  The exclusive focus of the task force on studies that had transitioned to self-administered and mixed-mode surveys may have shifted attention away from mixed-mode studies that analyzed factors related to race-ethnicity and language. The omission of key race and language research on mixed modes was unfortunate but could still be addressed by AAPOR by supplementing the task force report.

The review of incentive options by the task force report was very informative and underscored the advantages of pre-paid and promised incentives for increasing response rates in mixed mode studies.[8]  However, the review of incentive studies did not offer any guidance on the effectiveness of incentive options for improving the response rates of diverse race-ethnic groups – clearly a topic that is in dire need of attention by the research industry.  The relative absence of research evaluating the effectiveness of incentives for diverse race-ethnic groups points to a vacuum of knowledge that may require attention by AAPOR.  

These two events suggest that Nielsen may not be the only research organization that needs help with improving the recruitment and measurement of multicultural audiences. Meaningful changes will not take place simply with declarations about the need for racial equity and diversity. Academic institutions are training the next generation of research practitioners and need to step up to the plate by introducing research courses or content that focuses on the common sources of bias in studies of multicultural communities.  AAPOR could provide grants or obtain sponsorships for research that documents the various factors that impact the response rates or engagement of multicultural persons in mixed-mode research. And while important research on mixed mode studies has been conducted in countries outside of the U.S., a critical need exists for a focus on domestic audiences like African Americans, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans whose life experiences and environments differ significantly from residents of foreign countries. 

What is the recommended timeline to implement these changes? Well, just consider the fact that the multicultural population in the U.S. numbered 144.3 million in 2020.[9]  One can only wonder why it has taken so long for the research industry to implement these changes.      

Reference Notes

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[1] Neff, J. (2021 Sept. 01).  Nielsen TV ratings accreditation suspended by MRC. AdAge.com, Accessed at:   https://adage.com/article/media/nielsen-tv-ratings-accreditation-suspended-mrc/2362556

[2] Neff, J. (2021 Sept. 9).  Nielsen CEO predicts TV ratings accreditation restoration ‘in months’ – but see bigger issues. AgeAge.com  Accessed at:  https://adage.com/article/media/nielsen-ceo-predicts-tv-ratings-accreditation-restoration-months/2363731

[3] Rincón & Associates (2004, February 1).  Latino Television Study.  National Latino Media Coalition, Accessed at:  https://www.rinconassoc.com/category/publications

[4] Olson, K. et al. Transitions from telephone surveys to self-administered and mixed-mode surveys:  AAPOR Task Force Report. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, Vol. 9, Number 3, June 2021.

[5] Bureau of the Census (2020 Oct. 27). People and households represented in each American Community Survey data collection mode. Accessed at https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/acs-collection.html#   

[6] Rincón, E.T.   The Culture of Research.  Publisher: Writer’s Marq LLC, 2020.

[7] Rincón, E. T.  Mixed-mode studies:  The need to consider race-ethnicity and language factors.  Presentation to the American Association for Public Opinion Research: A Virtual Meeting Place, June 11-12, 2020.

[8] Biemer, P.P., Murphy, S., Zimmer, C., Berry, G, Deng, and K. Lewis. (2018). Using bonus monetary incentives to encourage web response in mixed-mode household surveys. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 6, 240–261.

[9] Census Bureau (2021 August 12). 2020 Census statistics highlight local population changes and nation’s racial and ethnic diversity,  Release Number CB21-CN.55. Accessed at: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/population-changes-nations-diversity.html