Social Construction of Hate Crime in the U.S.: A Factorial Survey Experiment

The purpose of this project is to study the chronic underreporting of hate crimes. Specifically, the application proposes to investigate what and how factors at the individual level and incident level influence the perceptions of a bias incident and the willingness to report such incidents. It aims to integrate theories of social inequalities and social psychology and provide empirical evidence to support policies and programs to tackle the underreporting issue of hate crimes. This project employs factorial survey experiments with randomized vignette designs to gather first-hand data on a relatively representative population in the U.S. The vignettes are designed to study different aspects of hate crime bias, based on race, sexual orientation, and religious affiliation. A pilot study has been conducted on a smaller sample size with a modified vignette experiment. Survey distribution and data collection will use an online crowdsourcing service, which is a method of recruiting paid participants for surveys and experiments due to its cost-friendly availability and relatively diverse population. The target sample size is 2,500 U.S. adult respondents. Multi-level modeling (MLM/HLM) with a random intercept approach will be used to capture both within respondent effects and between respondent effects. Since geographic information will also be collected, a third level may also be modeled regarding state-level characteristics. Finally, the applicant plans to partner with the Crime and Justice Research Alliance to expand dissemination. Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law, and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR 200.210(a)(14). CA/NCF