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Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance pp 45–62Cite as

Making It Count: Discrimination Auditing and the Activist Scholar Tradition

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Part of the book series: Methodos Series ((METH,volume 14))

Abstract

Discrimination auditing can usefully be viewed as part of a tradition of social science activist scholarship since World War II. This perspective suggests that the single-minded pursuit of methodological rigor, especially when reflected in exclusive reliance on documents-based audits, often sacrifices other characteristics historically associated with auditing’s unique contributions to societal and scientific advancement. This chapter advocates and illustrates a balanced research agenda in which the most rigorous auditing studies are paralleled by others more directly in the activist scholar tradition. The hallmarks of that tradition are: in-person testers, the lived experience of discrimination, researcher-community partnerships, and goals beyond academic ones.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

    Frances Cherry

  2. Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, Inc., Alexandria, VA, USA

    Marc Bendick Jr.

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  1. Frances Cherry
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  2. Marc Bendick Jr.
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Correspondence to Frances Cherry .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    S. Michael Gaddis

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Cherry, F., Bendick, M. (2018). Making It Count: Discrimination Auditing and the Activist Scholar Tradition. In: Gaddis, S. (eds) Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance. Methodos Series, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71153-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71153-9_2

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