This article, from the American Society of Criminology (ASC), first reviews research establishing:

1. that a rising proportion of firms are routinely checking applicant backgrounds and 
2. that employers discriminate on the basis of felony-level records.

The authors then ask the following scientific question with pressing policy implications:

• Does low-level arrest information affect hiring, and if yes, then how does it affect hiring decisions?

They then use an experimental audit method to estimate the impact of a single arrest on employment, and then interview a subset of audited employers to learn precisely how they incorporate low-level records in their decisions.