A study of ethnic stereotypes: approaches and methods

The author analyzes the approaches and methods that are most commonly used in sociological studies of ethnic stereotypes and allow one to reveal social values and attitudes of the respondents as well as the subjective assessments of the representatives of ethnic groups. They include Likert scale, Bogardus social distance scale, method of assigning characteristics by D. Katz and K. Braly, twenty statements test, incomplete sentences technique, and semantic differential developed by Ch. Osgood in the second half of the 20th century. The paper provides the case studies for the analyzed methods and techniques applied in modern ethnosociological research on ethnic stereotypes. The author concludes that such projective methods as incomplete sentences technique and semantic differential should be combined in order to make the study of features of interethnic perception more effective.