Contextual aspects of ethnic stereotypes and interethnic evaluations

The existence of context-specific ethnic stereotypes and their effect on evaluations of contact with ethnic groups is examined in a survey of 1694 Dutch secondary-school students. Interethnic evaluations and 13 trait attributions towards five ethnic groups were measured in three basic social domains: as neighbours, classmates and (marital) partners. The 13 trait attributions were also measured for ethnic groups in general and for ‘people in general’. The first hypothesis was that stereotypes operationalized as diagnostic ratios were better predictors of interethnic evaluation than stereotypes operationalized as percentage scores. The second hypothesis was that contextual stereotypes are better predictors of interethnic evaluation than general group stereotypes. It was found that diagnostic ratios do not predict interethnic evaluations better than percentage scores. For most ethnic groups contextual stereotypes are better predictors of interethnic evaluations than general group stereotypes.     

The tenuous interface: Policymakers,researchers and user-publics the case of the netherlands’ development cooperation

In development cooperation, the linkage between research and policy is particularly tenuous due to the fact that user-publics are not only far removed, but also more numerous. The interests of the various parties involved in the research policy linkage tend to diverge even more than on the national level. Traditional models of linkage between research and policy therefore do not suffice, especially regarding the involvement of user-public(s) in research priority setting. A simple conceptual model is presented showing some elementary interfaces between the main actors involved, i.e., researchers, policymakers and user-publics. Through a case study of recent development policy changes in The Netherlands aimed at involving the relevant user-publics, issues are raised with regard to the mechanisms of priority setting.