Bogardus Social Distance Scale

Bogardus Social Distance Scale was created by Emory S. Bogardus to empirically measure people's willingness to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with other kinds of people, such as various racial and ethnic groups, as well as sex offenders, and homosexuals.

The scale asks people whether they would be willing to accept each group
 * As close relatives by marriage (1.00)
 * As my close personal friends (2.00)
 * As neighbors on the same street (3.00)
 * As co-workers in the same occupation (4.00)
 * As citizens in my country (5.00)
 * As only visitors in my country (6.00)
 * Would exclude from my country (7.00)

A score of 1.00 for a group in dicates no social distance and therefore no prejudice.

Reseach shows that the extent of prejudice is deceasing slightly and fewer distinctions are being made among groups.

The Bogardus Social Distance Scale is a cumulative scale (a Guttman scale), because agreement with any item implies agreement with all preceding items.