Patterns of racial segregation in university residence dining-halls

Social psychologists have long been interested in the effects of 'contact ' between racial groups. The conditions under which this contact can manifest have usually been experi mentally manipulated in order to determine optimal combinations. A shortcoming of this approach is that it constructs contact situations that are unnatural and contrived. Some researchers have proposed an approach that examines contact as a natural phenomenon (Dixon & Durrheim, 2003). The present research adopts this approach, and reports on a naturalistic, observational study of 'contact ' between students in university residence din ing-halls. Seating patterns of students were observed for one month and analysed along dimensions of spatial variation. The results show high levels of informal segregation and that the segregation manifests as a specific spatial configuration. Such results, which oc cur despite the presence of apparently favourable conditions, illustrate how this approach may lead to different conclusions to those achieved through experimental manipulation. *To whom correspondence should be addresse