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
