Prejudice and Politics Series

The Prejudice and Politics (P&P) Series is a unique sequence of studies of the politics of intolerance. Beginning with the Bay Area Race and Politics study, the P&P series went beyond simple question wording experiments (e.g., Form A vs. Form B) and pioneered the use of computer-assisted interviewing to incorporate more complex randomized experiments into studies of public opinion.  Each subsequent study introduced multiple original designs for survey experiments and counter-arguments. The P&P series provides a map of the development of theories of prejudice and politics, starting with race in America, then expanding to consider Muslims and multiculturalism in Western Europe. For a description of several of the experiments, see Thomas Piazza and Paul M. Sniderman, "Incorporating Experiments into Computer Assisted Surveys," in M.P. Couper, R.P. Baker, J. Bethlehem, C.Z.F. Clark, J. Martin, W.L. Nicholls II, and J.M. O'Reilly, eds., Computer Assisted Survey Information Collection. New York: John Wiley, 1998. See also Paul M. Sniderman and Douglas Grob, "Innovations in Experimental Design in General Population Attitude Surveys,” Annual Review of Sociology 22 (1996): 377-399.