Publication Type: Poster
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Intergroup contact has a long research tradition within the social sciences, its most prominent theory being the contact hypothesis by Allport (1954). The hypothesis states that contact between groups that have negative views of each other can lead to a reduction in intergroup bias and prejudice if certain optimal conditions are implemented within the contact situation. Despite criticism, recent findings reveal that contact situations structured according to Allport’s optimal contact conditions are indeed effective in reducing intergroup prejudice. A wide array of studies dealing with the effects of intergroup contact exist to date. However, up to now little research has addressed intergroup contact effects in longterm settings or the differential effects of intergroup contact for minority versus majority group members. With regard to Germany’s current integration policy, that specifically aims at the integration of Muslims, this study therefore attemps to create a longterm contact intervention between Germans without migrational background and Turkish immigrants in Germany. The encounter is planned as a Turkish-German language course to take place in Bremen in which participants teach each other German or Turkish respectively. The main aim is to create and evaluate a special form of intervention that is in line with recent research and that could serve as a model for future integration projects. Several research questions will be assesed within this setting, including issues of minority and majority group membership differences in intergroup contact effects, the role of implicit and explicit prejudice and the process that leads to prejudice reduction.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In the past decade, intergroup contact via the mass media has received increasing attention in the research community. In an attempt to strengthen the conceptual foundation for the emerging research field, the current study examines existing media stereotype research from the perspective of intergroup processes and synthesizes it with the intergroup contact theory. To do so, each research tradition was examined first, followed by a new conceptualization of mediated intergroup contact enabled by media texts. Afterwards, the psychological processes of mediated intergroup contact were explicated by applying and further expanding the existing intergroup contact theory. Critical assessments of the US mainstream media, ethic media, and international media were made to illuminate the ways that these media outlets can enhance the outcomes of mediated intergroup contact. Toward the end, a few recommendations were put forward for future research and practice.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In an effort to increase cooperation rates in large-scale telephone surveys, NORC, a national organization for research at the University of Chicago, as part of its summer internship program, developed and tested 5 introductory scripts for use during an ongoing evaluation of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 program. REACH 2010 is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is designed to support community-based health interventions aimed at reducing racial and ethnic health disparities. The current experiment attempted to measure the impact of a non-solicitation statement, study sponsorship, and the use of an unscripted introduction on 3,470 cases that had not been previously contacted. Data were collected during the summer of 2003.

A 2 x 2 design randomized by day, with telephone greeting scripts contrasting sponsorship from the University of Chicago vs. the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the solicitation statement “I’m not selling anything” vs. omission of that statement, was used for this experiment. A fifth “unscripted” condition was also included that allowed interviewers some freedom in how they greeted respondents.

This experiment found that, during the first contact with respondents where University of Chicago sponsorship was mentioned, the inclusion of the “not selling” statement increased the appointment rate by 6 percent. However, when identifying a government sponsor, the “not selling” statement was found to be unnecessary. No significant differences were found between the five conditions on completion rates or refusal rates during the first respondent contact. The telephone interviewers who participated in the study believed that the unscripted greeting provided the most respondent cooperation, but no evidence of this was found.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The number of wireless subscribers continues to increase in the United States with nearly 148,000,000 by July, 2003. Traditional telephone frames and RDD surveys continue to be affected by increasing penetration of wireless phones. Telephone number portability also poses new challenges for telephone and wireless phone surveys. To date there have been only a limited number of surveys conducted using wireless phone frames, in part due to strict FCC guidelines. But as subscribers begin to port their wireline/wireless numbers and as the number of wireless subscribers increases, more emphasis will be placed on incorporating wireless numbers into sampling frames or on surveys conducted using frames of wireless phone numbers. As a consequence, methods of contacting subscribers via their mobile phone will become increasingly important.

The recent technological advances in digital mobile phone devices being introduced are creating the potential for multiple modes of contact including: text messaging, photographic and other attachment transmissions and web mail. In fact, 92 percent of wireless subscribers use a digital device and could potentially be contacted using one of these alternatives. For example, a researcher could send a text message prior to phone contact alerting the subscriber of an upcoming interview. These text alerts may also be used to help the interviewers schedule “safe/appropriate” times for callbacks. Wireless phone enabled panels could also be constructed and contacted using short text polls, similar to web-enabled panels or people-meter samples.

In this paper various methods of contact available to researchers conducting surveys of wireless subscribers will be introduced along with a discussion of the inherent variation in these services across the major wireless providers. Some emphasis will also be given to the effect of number portability on these options. A brief discussion of the uses and extensions of these technologies in European surveys will also be included.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between interethnic contact and ethnic identity trajectories through an investigation of the Russian population in Latvia. Three possible outcomes are considered: assimilation, integration, and separation. The first indicates a cultural and political merger of two ethnic groups, the second indicates a political merger only, and the third denotes neither.
A curious result emerges: in a large-n survey conducted last year by the Baltic Institute of Social Sciences, there was no relationship between interethnic contact and a propensity to assimilate. There was, however, a strong relationship between contact and integration. Surprisingly, the exact opposite result emerged in a much smaller, but more detailed, network survey of respondents I worked with earlier this year: That is, there was a strong relationship between contact and propensity to assimilate, but no relationship between contact and integration.