The Illogic of Literalness: Narrative Lessons in the Presentation of Race Policies (2009) Findings from several survey experiments with registered voters demonstrate that order matters significantly in overcoming racial resentment to elevate support for policies that address disparities. This report reveals the counter-intuitive nature of frames and holds important lessons for advocates who communicate about disparities on a wide array of issues, including health and economic development.
“My Race is My Community:” Peer Discourse Sessions on Racial Disparities (2009) This report shares the results of 9 peer discourse sessions conducted in 4 cities with diverse groups of politically engaged people around the United States. This research shows that Americans have difficulty thinking about the structural nature of racism. Frame elements intended to create different types of group conversation, however, showed the potential to foster greater understanding of systemic racial inequalities and garner support for social policies designed to address such inequities.
Every Picture Tells a Story: An Examination of Racialized Visuals and their Frame Effects (2009) This report details the results of an experimental survey of 2,400 registered voters that explores the impact of racially explicit visuals as frame cues and their impacts on minority economic development and child/youth policies. Although advocates are often told to use pictures of “real people” to humanize an issue, the results of our study show that policy advocates should be extremely cautious in the choreography of this frame element.
Invisible Structures of Opportunity: How Media Depictions of Race Trivialize Issues of Diversity and Disparity (2009) This second cognitive media analysis was conducted to examine the various ways in which race is presented to readers, directly and indirectly, in the nation’s news media. More specifically, it analyzes media coverage of race over the course of one year in four issue areas: health, education, early child development and employment. The report lays out the dominant frames that are applied to race in these areas and demonstrates how these frames constrain public solutions.
Effects of Explicitness in the Framing of Race (2008) An on-line experimental survey of 622 people was conducted to test the effects of several reframes on racial attitudes and policies. Particular attention was paid to distinctions between explicit and implicit racial cues.
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