Date of Award

12-2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology

Abstract

Arab Americans are a growing segment of the U.S. population. Issues like anti-Arab prejudice are becoming more visible, but few studies have considered how the problem might be viewed by an Arab American community member. This study asks the question: does acculturation within the Arab American community have an effect on the amount of perceived prejudice the group senses? Secondary data from the Detroit Arab American Study was used to test for a relationship between perceived prejudice as measured by “American Media Bias”, and acculturation within the Arab American community as measured by “Arab Acts” and “Arab News”. Findings show a positive relationship between acculturation within the Arab American community and the perception of prejudice by the members of the group. The results imply that measurement of perceived prejudice by the use of measuring perceptions of media bias could be a promising way to determine how perceived prejudice is shaped.

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Faculty Mentor

Dr. Peggy Petrzelka