Achieving homophily, or association based on similarity, between a human user and a robot holds a promise of improved perception and task performance. However, no previous studies that address homophily via ethnic similarity with robots exist. In this paper, we discuss the difficulties of evoking ethnic cues in a robot, as opposed to a virtual agent, and an approach to overcome those difficulties based on using ethnically salient behaviors. We outline our methodology for selecting and evaluating such behaviors, and culminate with a study that evaluates our hypotheses of the possibility of ethnic attribution of a robot character through verbal and nonverbal behaviors and of achieving the homophily effect.
Ethnography Reconstructed: The Stranger at Fifteen. The Concepts of Fieldwork. Getting Started. Who Are You to Do This? Ethnography. Beginning Fieldwork. Narrowing the Focus. Informal to Formal: Some Examples. The Ethnographic Research Proposal. Ethnography in Context.