28th Annual Student Research Conference
An Examination of Racial Self-Segregation at Truman State University
Connor P. Maguire
Dr. Paul Shapiro and Dr. Anton Daughters, Faculty Mentors
Data measuring an individual's level of self-segregation and their perception of the intensity of self-segregation within the community was obtained by a simple random sample of 6 different classes, with a total of 68 individual participants, at Truman State University in the fall of 2014. Respondents were presented with questions asking about the level of their social contact and intimacies with members of different races and then with members of their own race. Findings show that there is a vast discrepancy in the amount of self-segregation individuals exhibit. Whites are more likely to self-segregate than members of any other race, and those who live off campus are also more likely to self-segregate by race. The results of this study question the seemingly pervasive social tendency to lay the blame for self-segregation at the feet of minority populations.
Keywords: self-segregation, social distance, race
Topic(s):Sociology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 305-5
Location: MG 2050
Time: 2:00