Cook, S. W., Experimenting On Social Issues: The Case of School Desegregation,
American Psychologist, 1985, 40, 452-460
This paper demonstrates an experimental approach to studying social
issues. After exploratory research to identify variables, quasi-experiments
are conducted. Then laboratory experiments are used to measure determinants
more closely. Then the main factors are evaluated separately in both lab
and field experiments. This is demonstrated using school desegregation
as the social issue.
The research is about the "effect of personal contact on attitudes
and relationships of persons from disliked groups". It grew out of
studying the impact of desegregation possibilities after WWII (was impending
desegretation a good idea?). Initial data showed successful contact needed
to be on an equal basis with initial cooperation toward a joint goal.
Other quasi-studies showed that desegregation in recreation and housing
did improve racial relations. Still it was uncertain how much subject bias
was present in these unscientific studies.
There are five main criteria for success of the contact hypothesis:
1. Meet as equals
2. Attributes of disliked group that come out must disconfirm the stereotype.
3. Need mutually interdependent relation (e.g, achievement of a goal)
4. Must have enough contact to see disliked group as individuals
5. Social norms of contact situation should favor equality in groups.
Laboratory Study of the Contact Hypothesis
They set up a study to create the above conditions. White subjects worked
with black co-workers to run a mythical train line for 20 days (the black
co-worker and white co-worker were confederates). They selected the most
predujicial pair of white subjects -- one went to the treatment group, one
to the control group (who didn't do the experiment but were measured for
race viewpoint at the same time as the treatment group).
Most of the black co-worker contact was during lunch. They scripted the
confederate conversations to show egalitarian views from the white co-worker
and stereotype-breaking views from the black co-worker (that would individualize
him.)
Results
There was a significant increase in racial acceptance for the experiment
group vs the control group. For some subjects the change was almost complete
-- from racial disapproval to racial approval.
Cooperative Intergroup Contact in a Desegregated School Setting
The researchers set up cooperative interdependence by arranging racially
mixed learning teams in English Literature in Denver. They changed the
exercises from normally individualy based to team based.
Results
They found lower racial dissension among students who were in the learning
teams vs others. Whites in learning groups rated Hispanics as well as fellow
whites (but still rated black students lower). In 11 of 13 similar studies,
cooperative interdependence was shown to improve racial acceptance.
Further tests
They also tested in the laboratory more variables that may determine racial
attitudes in a group setting. They set up a management simulation with
a white male subject and a white and black co-worker confederates. In one
condition one of the confederates made costly errors that caused the team
to fail. In this situation there was little disliking difference if the
failing confederate was black or white. The second condition was race --
they found little preferential difference for white or black co-workers
in this cooperative situation.
Conclusions
Inter-racial contact in a group setting while working on a common goal can
dramatically improve racial perceptions. There is also a positive effect
for group success.
Unfortunately, desegration wasn't carried out with the above egalitarian
points in mind. It hasn't achieved either an improvement in race relations
nor in academic achievement.