Student Attitudes to be Polled By Race Relations Committee

The Race Relations Committee, a student-faculty group, will distribute a questionnaire to all upperclassmen sometime this month on racial attitudes, Donald I. Barfield, a seventh year graduate student in Sociology and author of the questionnaire, said last week.

The goal of the research is to provide "a theory of race relations for students in the Harvard community," Barfield said.

The questionnaire will include questions requesting demographic data, questions gauging student's knowledge of their surroundings, and more subjective questions identifying students' attitudes. attitudes.

Barfield said the questionnaire includes "new types of questions." He added, "You can't ask a question like 'Will you allow blacks to eat at the same table with you?' Everyone knows the answer."

A computer will analyze the responses to the questionnaire. They will release and test them under various social theories. They will release any significant new findings to a publication to be chosen later, Barfield said.

We need to reassess peoples' attitudes," said Barfield. "We can't assume they are the same as in the late sixties and early seventies when lots of this type of study were done."

The committee will distribute the questionnaire from door to door and later pick them up to assure a high response rate.

Archie C. Epps III, dean of students and chairman of the committee, did not want to discuss the questionnaire to avoid "prejudicing the outcome." He said he has no ideas what the results of the questionnaire will show, but that the Committee will make recommendations based on them.