Bogardus’s scale of social distance: Advantages and limitations

Abstract

Social distance represents one of the oldest, but also of the most current research topics in sociology. Only in the period from 1990 to 1995, more than 500 studies were published about social distance. When studying various kinds of relations - class, religious, ethnic etc - social distance is measured by the Bogardus’s scale or by the application of some of its modifications. The paper would point to the characteristics of the original determination of the notion of social distance and its later modifications as well as to the epistemological limitations in the application of the Bogardus’s scale.

Keywords

• Bogardus’s scale
• ethnic groups
• measurement
• social distance