Research Activities: Scott J. South

Accomplishments in past 36 months

South continues to maintain his position as one of CSDA’s most productive scholars, exemplified in his fourteen articles (in print or forthcoming) since December 2003, a string that includes articles in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Demography, Journal of Marriage and the Family, and three in Social Forces.
One thread of his research explores patterns and determinants of residential mobility between different types of neighborhoods in the U.S., with particular emphases on the factors that enable poor families to escape socioeconomically distressed communities and on racial differences in mobility among predominantly black, racially mixed, and predominantly white neighborhoods. A key finding from these studies concerns the importance of metropolitan area characteristics, such as the age of the housing stock, the size of the suburban ring, the degree of housing integration by race and poverty status, and the relative levels of crime and unemployment in city and suburb, in shaping patterns of inter-neighborhood residential mobility. Another recent set of analyses has focused on the inter-neighborhood migration patterns of Latinos. The major story here is that residential mobility into neighborhoods inhabited by greater percentages of non-Hispanic whites tends to increase with successive generations, more human and financial capital, and English language proficiency. But this pattern emerges more strongly for Mexicans than for Puerto Ricans or Cubans.
South’s research also continues to examine sociodemographic influences on the timing of pivotal events in the life course, including marriage, nonmarital childbearing, and divorce. A particular focus here concerns how geographic mobility and context—particularly marriage market and neighborhood characteristics—affect these critical demographic behaviors. Among the key findings here are strong positive effects of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage on the risk of premarital childbearing for white, but not black, women. South additionally studies the effects of neighborhood characteristics and residential mobility on adolescent development. These papers explore not only the existence and strength of neighborhood effects on youth sexual activity, friendship networks, and youth violence but, equally important, the mechanisms through which these effects are transmitted. One of the main findings to emerge from these studies is that a substantial portion of the detrimental effects of neighborhood disadvantage and mobility on these dimensions of adolescent development is attributable to the distinctive nature of the peer relationships in distressed communities and among mobile adolescents.

Externally funded research

South has been PI or Co-PI on one NSF and two NICHD grants over the past three years. In the current year, he has continued work on an NICHD grant, “Exploring Spatial Dynamics of Neighborhood Migration” (Kyle D. Crowder, PI). The research it supports examines the impacts of extra-local neighborhood conditions—characteristics of areas surrounding the neighborhood of actual or potential residence—on migration between neighborhoods of varying socioeconomic and demographic attributes.

Work in progress and pending/planned research projects

South has four grant applications currently pending. One, “Spatial Dynamics of Neighborhood Effects” (NICHD, Kyle D. Crowder, Co-PI), recently received a priority score of 117 (percentile rank of 0.5) and is likely to receive funding in January of 2007. The main goal of this project is to examine the impacts of extra-local neighborhood conditions on adolescents’ and young adults’ marital, fertility, and educational behavior. Two others, “Resources and Opportunities for Neighborhood Attainment” (NICHD, Kyle D. Crowder, Co-PI) and “Metropolitan Context and Opportunities for Residential Attainment (NSF, Kyle D. Crowder, Co-PI), explore the impact of individual wealth and metropolitan-area characteristics on inter-neighborhood migration using the PSID. The fourth, “Sex Ratios and Family Life in China” (NSF, Katherine Trent, Co-PI), uses multilevel data from the Chinese Health and Family Life Survey to examine the effect of local sex ratios on family formation behavior, women’s socioeconomic status, and internal family dynamics.

Contribution to the population research program

South is a central figure in the population research program. As the former Director of CSDA, he formulated a substantial part of the R24 proposal that was ultimately successful in garnering NICHD support for the Center. His research program is at the core of the distinctive profile of the Center: he continues to contribute research advances to CSDA’s spatial-demography signature theme while transecting CSDA’s research clusters in immigration and life course.

Use of infrastructure cores and activities

South makes extensive use of the population center infrastructure. The Administrative Core supports his funded research by providing critical proposal preparation assistance and by managing his grant portfolio. He uses data services to help with the complex data set manipulations his analyses often require.