Focus groups as a tool in the construction of questionnaires: the case of discriminatory attitudes

Abstract

The aim of the present article is twofold First, it tests and demonstrates the supplementary use of focus groups to construct quantitatively oriented survey on anti-minority sentiment. Second, it clarifies two major theoretical concepts-prejudice versus perceived threat-in the research on discriminatory attitudes towards minority populations. More specifically, by using data from focus group discussions on foreign workers in Israel, the study examines the use of such groups for measurement of prejudice and perceived threat within the social and cultural context of Israeli society. The analysis of focus group discussions provides adapted questionnaire scales for measuring prejudice and perceived threat. The findings support the premise that prejudice and perceived threat are two distinct theoretical concepts. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

A threat from within? Perceptions of immigration in an enlarging European Union

“…An individual perceives that immigration poses a collective threat when he or she anticipates that immigration will have negative consequences for their society (Renfro and Walker, 2002, 197). A perception of threat is conceptually distinct from discriminatory attitudes such as xenophobia, prejudice, hostility toward immigrants or exclusionary immigration policy preferences (see Gorodzeisky, 2011b). According to Blumer (1958), feelings of threat emerge when the in-group feels strongly that they are superior to the out-group, who are perceived as alien.…”