Racial/Ethnic Perceptions from Hispanic Names: Selecting Names to Test for Discrimination

Abstract

Researchers increasingly use correspondence audit studies to study racial/ethnic discrimination in employment, housing, and other domains. Although this method provides strong causal evidence of racial/ethnic discrimination, these claims depend on the signal being clearly conveyed through names. Few studies have pretested individual racial and ethnic perceptions of the names used to examine discrimination. The author conducts a survey experiment in which respondents are asked to identify the races or ethnicities they associate with a series of names. Respondents are provided with combinations of Hispanic and Anglo first and last names. Hispanic first names paired with Anglo last names are least likely to be recognized as Hispanic, while all versions of Hispanic first and last names are highly recognized (≥90 percent). The results suggest that researchers must use caution when trying to signal Hispanic ethnicity in experiments, and prior findings from correspondence audits may be biased from poor signals.