Dr. Nicole P. Marwell (U of Chicago) – “A New Approach to Measuring Digital Redlining”

Join us for a special ARNIC seminar on 4/22 at 5:00PM PT led by Dr. Nicole P. Marwell titled: “A New Approach to Measuring Digital Redlining”

About the Talk

The term “digital redlining” is often used to refer to different aspects of the structural exclusion of certain groups from the benefits of the Internet. Internet scholarship and policy recognize at least three types of Internet exclusion—access, adoption, and use—but it is unclear which of these issues is captured by common conceptualizations of “digital redlining.” In this talk, Nicole Marwell will discuss recent work by the University of Chicago’s Internet Equity Initiative to establish a more precise conceptualization of digital redlining—and a more sound empirical basis for evaluating its key tenets. For example, most prior digital redlining research examines spatial inequality in Internet performance based on a single spatial unit (e.g., the census tract) and seeks to explain that variation based on a single predictor (e.g., neighborhood sociodemographic disadvantage). However, this talk argues that spatial phenomena unfold within hierarchical, multilevel structures, and thus what may appear to be neighborhood-level variation in Internet performance may instead primarily reflect variation between higher-order spatial units, such as cities, counties, or states. Increased spatial precision may shift our understanding of spatial processes stratifying Internet performance, and hence of the policy levers that may reduce it. Using geocoded crowdsourced Internet performance data from across the U.S., we show the utility of a multilevel modeling approach and challenge widely held assumptions undergirding prevailing conceptualizations of digital redlining. Multilevel models suggest there is far more variation in latency—a key Internet performance metric—within neighborhoods than between them. Moreover, demographic factors explain only a small portion of the limited between-neighborhood variation that exists. Professor Marwell will discuss this study in the larger context of the interdisciplinary research of the Internet Equity Initiative, which integrates research from computer science and social science in pursuit of equitable, resilient, and sustainable internet solutions for all communities.

About the Speaker

Nicole P. Marwell is a Professor at the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, where she is also Faculty Director of the Master’s Degree in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management. She is a faculty affiliate of the UChicago Department of Sociology, and co-Principal Investigator of the UChicago Internet Equity Initiative, which is housed at the UChicago Data Science Institute. Marwell’s research examines a range of questions about urban governance, with a focus on the diverse intersections between nonprofit organizations, government bureaucracies, communities, and politics. She has published in top journals in sociology, urban sociology, public administration, and social work. Her new book, Mismeasuring Impact: How Randomized Controlled Trials Threaten the Nonprofit Sector will be out from Stanford University Press in July, 2025.

Please RSVP to arnic@usc.edu by Friday, 4/18, noting your affiliation to receive location details.