Publications — Merlin Schaeffer

Monographies

1 Schaeffer, Merlin (2016). Ethnic Diversity and Social Cohesion: Immigration, Ethnic Fractionalization and Potentials for Civic Action. London: Routledge. Cover endorsements by Robert Putnam (Harvard), Miles Hewstone (Oxford), and Michael Banton (Bristol).

Journal Articles

32 Wiedner, Jonas, Merlin Schaeffer, Sarah Carol, and Susanne Böller (2026). "Local Communities, Distant Origins: How Cultural Distance and Local Context Shape Immigrant Ethnoreligious Infrastructures." American Journal of Sociology 131 (5): 1182–221.
31 Friis, Camilla B., Merlin Schaeffer, Juliane Starcke Neergaard, and Lasse Suonperä Liebst (2026). "Body-Worn Cameras to Prevent Workplace Aggression Among Ticket Inspectors: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial." PLOS ONE. (Open access)
30 Heisig, Jan Paul, Pablo Garcia, Séamus Power, Thomas Morten, Rebecca Udsen, and Merlin Schaeffer (forthcoming). "Schools, childcare infrastructures, and mothers' time use and psychological well-being: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark." Acta Sociologica. (Open access)
29 Breznau, Nate, Eike Mark Rinke, Alexander Wuttke, […] Merlin Schaeffer, […] +162 other authors (2025). "The reliability of replications: A study in computational reproductions." Royal Society Open Science 12(3): 241038. (Open access)
28 Schaeffer, Merlin, Krzysztof Krakowski, and Asmus Olsen (2024). "Correcting Misperceptions about Ethno-Racial Discrimination: The Limits of Evidence-Based Awareness Raising to Promote Support for Equal-Treatment Policies." American Journal of Political Science 70(1): 54–75. (Open access)
27 Wiedner, Jonas & Merlin Schaeffer (2025). "Spatial Overlap: Trade-offs in Refugees' Residential Choices." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 51(5): 1075–1097. → Link to Pre-Print
26 Schaeffer, Merlin and Judith Kas (2025). "The integration paradox: Does awareness of the extent of ethno-racial discrimination increase reports of discrimination?" Political Psychology 46(3): 623–636. (Open access)
25 Schaeffer, Merlin and Judith Kas (2024). "The Integration Paradox: A Review and Meta-Analysis of the Complex Relationship Between Integration and Reports of Discrimination." International Migration Review 58(3): 1384–1409. → Link to Pre-Print
24 Power, Séamus, Merlin Schaeffer, Jan Paul Heisig, Rebecca Udsen, Liisalotte Ordóñez-Bueso, and Thomas Morton (2024). "Imagining Life Beyond a Crisis: A Four Quadrant Model to Conceptualize Possible Futures." Culture & Psychology 30(2): 411–430. (Open access)
23 Jünger, Stefan and Merlin Schaeffer (2023). "Ethnic Diversity and Social Integration — What are the Consequences of Ethnic Residential Boundaries and Halos for Social Integration in Germany?" Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und SozialPsychologie 75: 179–203. (Open access)
22 Power, Séamus, Merlin Schaeffer, Jan Paul Heisig, Rebecca Udsen, and Thomas Morton (2023). "Why trust? A mixed-method investigation of the origins and meaning of trust during the COVID-19 lockdown in Denmark." British Journal of Social Psychology 62(3): 1376–1394. (Open access)
21 Schaeffer, Merlin and Mikkel Haderup Larsen (2023). "Who Should Get Vaccinated First? Limits of Solidarity during the First Week of the Danish Vaccination Programme." European Sociological Review 39(1): 1–13. (Open access)
20 Breznau, Nate, Eike Mark Rinke, Alexander Wuttke, […] Merlin Schaeffer, […] +162 other authors (2022). "Observing many researchers using the same data and hypothesis reveals a hidden universe of uncertainty." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119(44): e2203150119. (Open access)
19 Wiedner, Jonas, Merlin Schaeffer, and Sarah Carol (2022). "Ethno-Religious Neighborhood Infrastructures and the Well-being of Immigrants and their Descendants in Germany." Urban Studies 59(14): 2985–3004. (Open access)
18 Larsen, Mikkel H. and Merlin Schaeffer (2021). "Healthcare chauvinism during the COVID-19 pandemic." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47(7): 1455–1473. (Open access)
17 Elff, Martin, Jan Paul Heisig, Merlin Schaeffer, and Susumu Shikano (2021). "Rejoinder to Daniel Stegmueller's Comments." British Journal of Political Science 51(1): 460–462. (Open access)
16 Elff, Martin, Jan Paul Heisig, Merlin Schaeffer, and Susumu Shikano (2021). "Multilevel Analysis with Few Clusters: Improving Likelihood-Based Methods to Provide Unbiased Estimates and Accurate Inference." British Journal of Political Science 51(1): 412–426. (Open access)
15 Dinesen, Peter, Merlin Schaeffer, and Kim Sønderskov (2020). "Ethnic Diversity and Social Trust: A Narrative and Meta-Analytical Review." Annual Review of Political Science 23: 441–465. (Open access)
14 Wiedner, Jonas and Merlin Schaeffer (2020). "Career trajectories into undereducation. Which skills and resources substitute formal education in the intergenerational transmission of advantage?" Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 68: 100526. → Link to Pre-Print
13 Heisig, Jan Paul and Merlin Schaeffer (2020). "The Educational System and the Ethnic Skills Gap among the Working-Age Population: An Analysis of 16 Western Immigration Countries." Socius 6. (Open access)
12 Heisig, Jan Paul and Merlin Schaeffer (2019). "Why You Should Always Include a Random Slope for the Lower-Level Variable Involved in a Cross-Level Interaction." European Sociological Review 35(2): 258–279. → Link to Pre-Print
11 Schaeffer, Merlin (2019). "Social Mobility and Perceived Discrimination: Adding an Intergenerational Perspective." European Sociological Review 35(2): 258–279. → Link to Pre-Print
10 Klinger, Julia, Stefan Jünger, and Merlin Schaeffer (2018). "Der Halo-Effekt in einheimisch-homogenen Nachbarschaften. Steigert die ethnische Diversität angrenzender Nachbarschaften die Xenophobie in Deutschland?" Zeitschrift für Soziologie 46(6): 402–419. → Link to Pre-Print
9 Heisig, Jan Paul, Merlin Schaeffer, and Johannes Giesecke (2017). "The Costs of Simplicity: Why Multilevel Models May Benefit from Accounting for Cross-Cluster Differences in the Effects of Controls." American Sociological Review 82(4): 796–827. → Link to Pre-Print
8 Legewie, Joscha and Merlin Schaeffer (2016). "Contested Boundaries: Explaining Where Ethnoracial Diversity Provokes Neighborhood Conflict." American Journal of Sociology 122(1): 125–161. ASA Mathematical Sociology Award 2017 ASA Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship in Population 2016
7 Schaeffer, Merlin, Jutta Höhne, and Céline Teney (2016). "Income Advantages of Poorly Qualified Immigrant Minorities: Why School Dropouts of Turkish Origin Earn More in Germany." European Sociological Review 32(1): 3–107. → Link to Pre-Print Anatol Rapoport Prize 2016
6 Koopmans, Ruud and Merlin Schaeffer (2016). "Statistical and Perceived Diversity and Their Impacts on Neighborhood Social Cohesion in Germany, France and the Netherlands." Social Indicators Research 125: 853–883. → Link to Pre-Print
5 Koopmans, Ruud and Merlin Schaeffer (2015). "Relational diversity and neighbourhood cohesion. Unpacking variety, balance and in-group size." Social Science Research 53: 162–176. → Link to Pre-Print
4 Schaeffer, Merlin (2014). "The Social Meaning of Inherited Financial Assets. Moral Ambivalences of Intergenerational Transfers." Forum: Qualitative Social Research 15(1): Art. 13. Reprint in Historical Social Research 2014, 39(3/4). (Open access)
3 Schaeffer, Merlin (2013). "Can competing diversity indices inform us about why ethnic diversity erodes social cohesion? A test of five diversity indices in Germany." Social Science Research 42(3): 755–774. → Link to Pre-Print
2 Schaeffer, Merlin (2013). "Inter-Ethnic Neighbourhood Acquaintances of Migrants and Natives in Germany: On the Brokering Roles of Inter-Ethnic Partners and Children." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39(8): 1219–1240. → Link to Pre-Print
1 Schaeffer, Merlin (2013). "Which groups are mostly responsible for problems in your neighbourhood?" Ethnic and Racial Studies 36(1): 156–178. → Link to Pre-Print

Edited Volumes

1 Koopmans, Ruud, Bram Lancee, and Merlin Schaeffer (eds., 2015). Immigration and Social Cohesion in Europe and North America: Mechanisms, Conditions and Causality. London: Routledge.

Book Chapters

4 Jünger, Stefan and Merlin Schaeffer (2022). "Der Halo-Effekt in Deutschland – Revisited. Sind Menschen, die in der Nähe von – aber nicht in – ethnisch diversen Nachbarschaften leben, besonders xenophob und rassistisch?" In: Kruse, Hanno and Janna Teltemann, Differenz im Raum: Sozialstruktur und Grenzziehung in deutschen Städten. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag: 195–218.
3 Schaeffer, Merlin (2016). "Diversity erfassen: Statistische Diversitätsindizes." In: Genkova, Petia and Tobias Ringeisen, Handbuch Diversity Kompetenz. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag: 47–60.
2 Koopmans, Ruud, Bram Lancee, and Merlin Schaeffer (2015). "Ethnic diversity in diverse societies: An introduction." In: Koopmans, Ruud, Bram Lancee and Merlin Schaeffer, Social Cohesion and Immigration in Europe and North America: Mechanisms, Conditions, and Causality. London: Routledge: 47–60.
1 Lancee, Bram and Merlin Schaeffer (2015). "Moving to diversity: Residential mobility, changes in ethnic diversity, and concerns about immigration." In: Koopmans, Ruud, Bram Lancee and Merlin Schaeffer, Social Cohesion and Immigration in Europe and North America: Mechanisms, Conditions, and Causality. London: Routledge: 47–60.

Discussion Papers & Technical Reports

4 Schaeffer, Merlin, Judith Kas, and Pia Hagedorn (2023). "The Association between Actual and Perceived Discrimination (APAD): Technical Report." SocArXiv.
3 Schaeffer, Merlin (2013). "Ethnic diversity, public goods provision and social cohesion: Lessons from an inconclusive literature." WZB Discussion Paper No. SP VI 2013-103.
2 Koopmans, Ruud, Anna Dunkel, Merlin Schaeffer, and Susanne Veit (2011). "Ethnische Diversität, soziales Vertrauen und Zivilengagement: Projektbericht." WZB Discussion Paper No. SP IV 2011-703.
1 Schaeffer, Merlin, Ruud Koopmans, Susanne Veit, Mareike Wagner, and Jonas Wiedner (2011). "The Ethnic Diversity and Collective Action Survey (EDCAS): Technical report." WZB Discussion Paper No. SP IV 2011-701.