Lecture 3: Methods in Intergroup Relations Flashcards
experimental control
the degree to which a researcher can determine the environment in which a research question is explored
what studies have the most experimental control
lab studies
psychological realism
the degree to which a study stimulates phenomena as experienced in everyday life
what studies have the most psychological realism
immersive studies
internal validity
the degree to which a study can rule out alternative hypotheses
external validity
the degree to which the results of a study generalize to other contexts, samples, and time periods
self-report measures
assessing attitudes, thoughts or beliefs by presenting a question, several possible responses, and having the participant select the response that they believe to be most of their own attitudes, thoughts, or beliefs
weaknesses of self-report measures
social desirability bias (cultural standards about the extent to which it is acceptable to express prejudice), people might have subconscious preferences, differences between attitudes and action
indirect measures
inferring attitudes, thoughts, or beliefs from some type of behaviour rather than from self-report
evaluative priming
uses the reaction times of identifying positive vs. negative words to infer implicit racial attitudes
weaknesses of implicit measures
lack consequential validity (might not actually corresponds to real-world behaviours)
physiological measures
measuring heartbeat & other measures when in the presence of different stimuli
weaknesses of physiological measures
physiological responses might be due to factors besides group membership, the body’s physiological response is very similar for different high-arousing emotions
Black students association study
haddock et al 1994 hypothetical behaviour study: the degree to which students cut funding to the Black Students Association could be used as a measure of how much students dislike Black people
Frank Kachanoff’s research
a multi-hour long study where participants join a group, complete computer missions together and develop a culture. Then, he uses maximal group paradigms to look at questions related to how experiencing lower or higher status impacts group identity and behaviour. found that belonging to a group that experienced lower power or status also resulted in feeling less individual control and autonomy
weaknesses of intensive behavioural measures
doesn’t always correlate with real-world behaviour, hypothetical
racial slur study
Kawakami et al., 2009 behavioural study: in one condition, non-Black participants were asked to imagine seeing a white person use a racial slur towards a Black person. They were then asked who they would choose to work with in a follow-up task and 20% chose the white person. In another condition, non-Black participants actually saw the interaction take place and 60% chose the White person.
First-person shooter task (FPST), Correll et al., 2007
people were more likely to shoot an unarmed Black person and not shoot an armed white person
First-person shooter task (FPST) with police officers
similar patterns were found, but with less error
weaknesses of simulated behavioural studies
may not correlate to real-world behaviour
waiting room study
Hendricks & Bootzin, 1976 simulated behaviour study: white participants found a note asking them to take a seat in the waiting area and on average, the participants sat closer to the white than the Black confederate
weaknesses of subtler behavioural measures studies
experimenter biases, may not correlate to real-world behaviour
archival analyses
using existing datasets to understand how social forces might influence real-world behaviour
police officers’ vocabulary study
Voigt et al., 2017 archival study: coded how police officers spoke to Black vs. white drivers following a traffic stop. They found that officers were more polite and reassuring towards white drivers and more disrespectful to Black drivers
cocaine study
Tuttle, 2019 archival study: invesigated how the increase in the minimum amount of cocaine needed for a felony impacted racial discrimination in polic reports & court sentencing. Found that 280 mg (new minimum for felony) showed up more frequently in the police reports of Black people
traffic stops study
Pierson et al., 2020 archival study: analyzed over 100 million traffic stops and found that the % of stops that were of Black drivers decreased after dusk (when it is presumably harder for officers to identify the race of the driver)
weaknesses of archival studies
limited by what kind of data exists, court battles to get the data, past data might not be reflective of modern data, low in experimental control and internal validity
audit studies
Attempting to combine the experimental control and internal validity of a lab study while maintaining real-world behaviour
elected officials and race study
Butler & Brockman, 2011 audit study: tested whether elected officials discriminate against their constituents based on race. The same email was more likely to receive a response if it came from a white vs. Black sounding name (61 vs 55%). This was only true when the email did not signal a political party affiliation
whitening resumes study
Kang et al., 2016 audit study: investigated the phenomenon of whitening resumes. Found that, despite having the same qualifications, the unwhitened applicant only received a callback to 10% of jobs compared to 25% for the whitened applicant
negociation audit study
Ayres, 1991 audit study: trained Black and white male and female actors to use the same negotiation strategy while trying to purchase a new car. On average, white negotiators received a final price that was $575 lower than Black negotiators. There was also gender discrimination, where white women received worse discounts than white men and Black women received worse discounts than Black men.
weaknesses of audit studies
ethical issue (people aren’t consenting to the research), can’t explain why the effect exists, extremely resource-intensive
