Media Contacts: Javier Rojas, javier.rojas@csun.edu
As several states pass laws limiting discussions regarding critical race theory (CRT), researchers at California State University, Northridge have outlined how the academic framework can better help connect the most vulnerable unhoused individuals to their needs.
In their latest paper for the Journal of Social Issues, the CSUN researchers created an outline of how quantitative research can be strengthened when vetted through a CRT framework and how qualitative intersectionality work can be complemented with statistics to better understand data, especially regarding race and gender, for the unhoused population.
Jose H. Vargas, the paper’s lead author and a social psychologist with the university’s Health Equity Research and Education Center, said CRT — an academic framework dating to the 1970s that centers on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation’s social institutions — is not a mainstream perspective in the legal system or in education. However, he said, it can provide a perspective that examines how race and gender play a role in unhoused individuals receiving the help they need.
“What this new study does is draw a connection between two different areas of study; one is statistics, which is very math heavy, and the other is a social, scientific and political discipline known as critical race theory,” Vargas said. “By looking through both of these lenses, we’re able to uncover biases in the interpretation of statistical data and be more conscious of the social structures that affect some of the most vulnerable individuals in society.”
Zak Peet, a graduate of CSUN with a master’s degree in psychological science and co-author of the paper, said the goal of the project was to make researchers interpret houselessness data sets differently by “not just looking at numbers, but understanding that those numbers represent a person, and CRT is about trying to make the researcher be more conscious of those social structures that affect an individual.”
Peet, who works with mutual aid organizations, saw firsthand the disconnect between houseless services and those receiving services. Often, he said, point-of-contact interviews with housing providers did not fully consider race or gender as factors in helping individuals find permanent shelter.
“This whole methodology is not only about running through data, but putting a person in context and adding perspective beyond just numbers,” Peet said.
The article is titled, “The First Primer for the QuantCrit-curious Critical Race Theorist or Psychologist: On Intersectionality Theory, Interaction Effects, and AN(C)OVA/regression Models.”
Vargas said he hopes the article introduces innovative ideas not just for those involved in this specific area of research but also for faculty and students who are willing to learn this methodology.
“We wanted to merge qualitative and quantitative methodologies; calling them methodologies emphasizes exactly what they are; tools for inquiry,” Vargas said. “A methodology simply refers to the broader way that you go about doing your research and, in this paper, we challenge the question of ‘are you a numbers person or are you about the lived experience?’ What we’re saying is that you should be both.”
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