Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

Research Design: Experiments and Experimental Thinking 139
draw conclusions about cultural differences in how various peoples respond
to foreigners as opposed to other natives. Some stereotypes were confirmed,
while others were crushed.
Bochner did a series of interesting experiments on the nature of Aboriginalwhite
relations in urban Australia (see Bochner [1980:335–340] for a review).
These experiments are clever, inexpensive, and illuminating, and Bochner’s
self-conscious critique of the limitations of his own work is a model for field
experimentalists to follow. In one experiment, Bochner put two classified ads
in a Sydney paper:
Young couple, no children, want to rent small unfurnished flat up to $25 per
week. Saturday only. 759–6000.
Young Aboriginal couple, no children, want to rent small unfurnished flat up to
$25 per week. Saturday only. 759–6161. (Bochner 1972:335)
Different people were assigned to answer the two phones, to ensure that
callers who responded to both ads would not hear the same voice. Note that
the ads were identical in every respect, except for fact that in one of the ads
the ethnicity of the couple was identified, while in the other it was not. There
were 14 responses to the ethnically nonspecific ad and two responses to the
ethnically specific ad (three additional people responded to both ads).
In another experiment, Bochner exploited what he calls the ‘‘Fifi effect’’
(Bochner 1980:336). The Fifi effect refers to the fact that urbanites acknowledge
the presence of strangers who pass by while walking a dog and ignore
others. Bochner sent a white woman and an Aboriginal woman, both in their
early 20s, and similarly dressed, to a public park in Sydney. He had them walk
a small dog through randomly assigned sectors of the park, for 10 minutes in
each sector.
Each woman was followed by two observers, who gave the impression that
they were just out for a stroll. The two observers independently recorded the
interaction of the women with passersby. The observers recorded the frequency
of smiles offered to the women; the number of times anyone said anything
to the women; and the number of nonverbal recognition nods the women
received. The white woman received 50 approaches, while the Aboriginal
woman received only 18 (Bochner 1971:111).
There are many elegant touches in this experiment. Note how the age and
dress of the experimenters were controlled, so that only their ethnic identity
remained as a dependent variable. Note how the time for each experimental
trial (10 minutes in each sector) was controlled to ensure an equal opportunity
for each woman to receive the same treatment by strangers. Bochner did preliminary
observation in the park and divided it into sectors that had the same