Experimenting on Social Issues: The Case of School Desegregation

This article presents and illustrates the argument for an experimental approach to the study of problems to which social science evidence and theory can make a practical contribution. First, following exploratory research to identify potentially weighty influences on the social behavior under consid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 1985-04, Vol.40 (4), p.452-460
Main Author: Cook, Stuart W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Cooperative Behavior
Experimental Methods
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Prejudice
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Race Relations
Racial and Ethnic Relations
School Integration
Schools
Social Change
Social Perception
Social psychology
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Summary:This article presents and illustrates the argument for an experimental approach to the study of problems to which social science evidence and theory can make a practical contribution. First, following exploratory research to identify potentially weighty influences on the social behavior under consideration, quasi-experiments are conducted to gain further confidence that these influences are of significance. The next step is to recreate the social behavior under laboratory control and study its determinants experimentally. A final step is to study separately the most significant variables in true experiments. These may be conducted in both laboratory and field settings. The process is illustrated with studies of variables involved in involuntary cross-racial contact as they affect race relations and attitude change. The relevance to constructive contributions to the process of school desegregation is discussed.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.40.4.452