COMM 5392-002 Data Analytic Project Proposal

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COMM 5392-002

Data Analytic Project Proposal

 

The Role of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status in Violent Crime Rates and Public Health Disparities in Dallas, Texas

 

Research Questions

This project aims to explore how neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) influences violent crime rates and public health disparities, focusing solely on Dallas, Texas.

 

Specifically, the following research questions will be investigated:

 

  1. How do neighborhood SES indicators (median income, education levels, and employment rates) correlate with violent crime rates (homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery) in Dallas?
  2. How does neighborhood SES relate to public health disparities, specifically access to healthcare, chronic illness prevalence, and mental health outcomes within Dallas neighborhoods?
  3. To what extent does the interaction between violent crime and SES contribute to disparities in health outcomes across Dallas communities?

 

Independent Variables (IVs):

– Neighborhood SES (median household income, percentage of residents with a high school diploma or higher, and unemployment rate)

 

Dependent Variables (DVs):

– Violent Crime Rates (homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery rates per 100,000 residents)

– Public Health Disparities (percentage of residents with access to healthcare, rates of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension, and self-reported mental health issues)

 

Neighborhood is defined at the census tract level to ensure consistency and availability of comparable data across crime, SES, and health indicators.

 

Literature Review

It is well established from prior research that SES is connected to crime rates and health outcomes. According to Vargas et al. (2020), crime rates are higher in low-income neighborhoods, which causes stress and trauma among residents, impacting mental health. De Nadai et al. (2020) highlighted how economic inequality and urban design shape crime distribution across cities.

 

Henry et al. (2019) found that parents in low-SES neighborhoods often perceive their environments as unsafe, contributing to behavioral health consequences in families. Caruso (2017) emphasizes that overall well-being is deeply influenced by social determinants like income stability and crime exposure. Kennedy et al. (1998) demonstrated that communities with greater income inequality experience higher firearm-related violent crime, underscoring the cumulative risk burden of inequality.

 

This research builds on existing literature by isolating Dallas as a single metropolitan case, utilizing recent tract-level data to draw targeted insights about urban disparities.

 

Expected Results and Implications

Based on the literature, I anticipate the following results:

 

  1. Higher violent crime rates will be associated with lower neighborhood SES. Neighborhoods with lower median income and higher unemployment rates will likely experience higher rates of homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery.
  2. Public health disparities will be greater in lower-SES neighborhoods. Residents in low-income areas may have lower healthcare access, higher rates of chronic illnesses, and poorer mental health outcomes.
  3. Violent crime will mediate the relationship between SES and public health disparities. Communities with high crime rates will likely experience additional negative health outcomes due to stress, trauma, and reduced healthcare access.

 

These findings could help inform local policies by identifying which communities in Dallas require increased investments in economic development, healthcare access, and violence prevention.

 

Data Collection Plan

The datasets used for this project will come from publicly available sources between 2013 and 2023, ensuring recent and relevant analysis. The project will only focus on Dallas, Texas, using data at the census tract level.

 

Existing Data Sources

  1. Crime Data:

– Source: Dallas Open Data Portal – Crime incident data filterable by type and location.

– URL: https://www.dallasopendata.com

 

  1. Socioeconomic Data:

– Source: U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates.

– URL: https://data.census.gov

 

  1. Public Health Data:

– Source: CDC PLACES Project and Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS).

– URL: https://www.cdc.gov/places and https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/

 

Data Analysis Plan

– Descriptive Statistics: To summarize SES, crime rates, and health disparities across Dallas neighborhoods.

– Correlation and Regression Analysis: To identify associations among SES indicators, violent crime, and health outcomes.

– Geospatial Analysis: To visualize neighborhood-level patterns and identify geographic clusters of high disparity.

– Time-Series Analysis: If applicable, to assess trends over time within Dallas from 2013 to 2023.

 

Potential Challenges and Considerations

– Neighborhood Definition: All data will be matched at the census tract level to ensure consistency.

– Missing Data: Given the unique characteristics of each tract, imputation will not be used. Tracts with excessive missing data will be excluded, and gaps will be reported.

– Causality: Strong correlations will be interpreted cautiously. While causation may not be proven, the associations will guide further research and potential intervention strategies.

 

Conclusion

This revised project focuses entirely on Dallas, Texas, and aims to examine how neighborhood SES influences violent crime and public health disparities at the local level. Findings will contribute to evidence-based strategies for improving health equity and safety in Dallas communities.

 

References

Caruso, G. D. (2017). Public health and safety: The social determinants of health and criminal behavior. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320456432

 

De Nadai, M., Xu, Y., Letouzé, E., González, M. C., & Lepri, B. (2020). Socio-economic, built environment, and mobility conditions associated with crime: A study of multiple cities. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70808-2

 

Henry, D. A., Miller, P., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Parr, A. K. (2019). Safe and sound? Exploring parents’ perceptions of neighborhood safety at the nexus of race and socioeconomic status. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 281–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2019.05.001

 

Kennedy, B. P., Kawachi, I., Prothrow-Stith, D., Lochner, K., & Gupta, V. (1998). Social capital, income inequality, and firearm violent crime. Social Science & Medicine, 47(1), 7–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00097-5

 

Vargas, T., Rakhshan Rouhakhtar, P. J., Schiffman, J., Zou, D. S., Rydland, K. J., & Mittal, V. A. (2020). Neighborhood crime, socioeconomic status, and suspiciousness in adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 215, 74–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2019.11.024