As part of the Fall 2022 Sociology Colloquium, the Department of Sociology invites you to attend the events with Felix Elwert, hosted by Peter Rich. 

Rearranging the Desk Chairs:  A Large Randomized Field Experiment on the Effects of Close Contact on Interethnic Relations

Abstract. Contact and conflict theory make opposite predictions for the causal effect of interethnic exposure on anti-minority discrimination. Received scope conditions, however, do not properly differentiate between the domains of these theories. Furthermore, prior evidence is mostly correlational; and supportive field experiments for contact theory have largely accrued in rarified settings. This begs the question how interethnic contact affects interethnic relations in everyday settings. We test the causal effect of interethnic exposure on discrimination under quotidian conditions in the largest pre-registered randomized field experiment to date, involving N=2,395 students in 39 Hungarian schools. Guess what we found.  

Bio: Felix Elwert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Elwert conducts research on the dynamics of inequality in the United States and Europe. Since 2021, he edits Sociological Methods and Research.