The exposure index: A measure of intergroup contact.

Abstract

This article introduces the exposure index as a measure of intergroup contact and in-group isolation. The Index is calculated from the proportions of 2 or more groups appearing in enduring social units, such as teams and workgroups, or in more transitory units such as lunch-table and classroom-seating clusters. Observed values of the Index are interpreted in relation to empirical sampling distributions of Index values calculated under the assumption of random mixing across group boundaries. The Index is applied to lunch-table clusters in the cafeteria of a private girls' school, and shows, as predicted, less Black-White contact among upper-school students (grades 6-12) than among lower-school students (grades K-5). Asian-White and Asian-Black contact was not different from chance. The exposure index may be useful for tracking contact between groups of many kinds, including groups defined in terms of age, gender, class, or combinations of these identifications.