Ethnic Group Interaction: A Methodological Note

Author(s): D. M. Taylor, G. R. Tucker and Louise Gaboriault

Source: Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 13, No. 9 (Dec., 1971), pp. 442-447

Published by: The Trustees of Indiana University on behalf of Anthropological Linguistics

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30029090

The present experiment explores the potential for studying aspects of ethnic group interaction by means of video-tape recordings. Our interest in this technique is stimulated by the trend which can be noted in this area over the past 40 years from the use of relatively artificial to more realistic situations. In ethnic perception, for example, traditional studies have involved presenting subjects (Ss) with ethnic group labels in some form of a questionnaire (Katz and Braly, 1933) to elicit judgments about the ethnic groups. These techniques have proven to be extremely useful for studying ethnic stereotypes in an abstract way; however they are quite artificial and may not allow for valid inferences to be drawn about the actual processes of ethnic perception. An important methodological advance in this area involved the use of stimulus materials such as photographs (Razran, 1950; Secord, 1959; Secord, Bevan and Katz, 1956) and tape-recordings (Labov, 1966; Lambert, 1967; Tucker and Lambert, 1969). These procedures which pro- vide more contextual information made it possible to monitor Ss' reactions to ethnic group members in a more realistic setting. More recently video- taped materials have been introduced to study both ethnic group perception (Tucker, Taylor and Reyes, 1970; Williams, Whitehead and Traupmann, 1970) and inter-ethnic group communication (Taylor and Gardner, 1970). The use of video-taped stimulus materials appears to provide a greater sense of realism; however, the potential for this technique has not yet been fully explored.