Testing for Discrimination: Teaching Audit Studies in Quantitative Methods Courses

Abstract

This article demonstrates a method for teaching students to conduct audit studies of discrimination. The assignment can be used in courses on quantitative methods, race, gender, or other topics. Audit studies test for unequal treatment by having otherwise identical pairs of people who vary on a single trait, such as race or gender, apply for the same sets of opportunities, such as apartment vacancies or job openings. Once intricate and expensive to conduct, the online shift of the past 15 years has streamlined the approach, enabling researchers to execute audits via email. I show how to lead students through designing and conducting original audit studies. I present evidence that this approach yields significant engagement, builds students’ abilities, and produces excellent work.