The secondary purpose of this book is to introduce these techniques to a wider array of housing and planning researchers and to show how a variety of disciplines have offered insightful, synergistic perspectives. Research on neighbourhood effects has over the last 15 years led to a body of knowledge extending far beyond the sociological urban research where it originated. The problem of quantifying neighbourhood effects and the use of associated methodologies (like multi-level analysis, instrumental variables) has attracted scholars from criminology, sociology, social geography, economics and health science, and thus serves as a critical locus for interdisciplinary scholarship.
This book was previously published as a special issue of Housing Studies.
Jörg Blasius is a Professor of Sociology at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology, University of Bonn, Germany. He currently serves as the president of RC33 (research committee of logic and methodology in sociology) of the International Sociological Association.
Jürgen Friedrichs is Professor Emeritus of the Research Institute for Sociology at the University of Cologne, Germany. He serves as senior editor of the Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpyschologie.
George Galster is the Clarence Hilberry Professor of Urban Affairs at the Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Wayne State University. His research has dealt with metropolitan housing markets, racial discrimination and segregation.