Welcome to the VLAB-RESI web site -- a virtual laboratory for exploring questions about racial and ethnic stratification and inequality. One of the goals of this site is to exploit the capabilities of new web-based technologies to help students learn about important social scientific concepts, theories, and research findings relating to racial and ethnic stratification and inequality. To do this the site provides web-based programs that present data documenting patterns of ethnic stratification and that model the underlying social dynamics that produce patterns of ethnic stratification. It also provides support materials that aid in using the programs and interpreting the data they present and the results they generate.      One of the goals of the site is to use computer programs and graphical methods of representing data to give students an intuitive, non-technical introduction to quantitative patterns of inequality and stratification and the processes that underly them. In pursuing this goal, the VLAB-RESI web site draws heavily on at least four significant strengths of web-based teaching tools.      Accessibility. The VLAB-RESI web site is available from any time and location where students have access to a computer that is connected to the World Wide Web. They can visit the site as often and as long as they wish and review the material at the site in any order and pace that they prefer.      Interactivity. VLAB-RESI's web-based programs are interactive and highly flexible. They allow the user to "follow their nose" and explore different aspects of racial and ethnic inequality and stratification guided by their own curiosity and interests.      Graphical representation of quantitative data and relations. The VLAB-RESI site relies extensively on graphical techniques to present quantitative data on racial and ethnic inequality and stratification and to represent the social processes that produce them. The idea guiding this approach is that, while quantification is crucial to the social scientific description and analysis of key aspects of inequality and stratification, it also can be a signficant obstacle that deters students from learning more about the subject. Graphical representations provide a more intuitive albeit less precise, means of conveying the same information, especially to students who are new to the subject and are not familiar with the details of how quantitative measures are developed and interpreted.      Use of heuristic models to explore theory. The VLAB-RESI site uses heuristic models to illustrate the social dynamics producing inequality and provide a means for exploring sociological theories of inequality. Discursive treatments are limited to providing only broad outlines of the complex processes that generate inequality. Empirical models provide more precise estimates of how inequality is linked to different variables, but cannot be understood without advanced training in quantitative modeling.      VLAB-RESI's heuristic models implement quantitative models of inequality, but "hide" the underlying technical aspects of the model from the user. Instead, the models describe key variables and processes using intuitive labels (e.g., low, medium, or high discrimination) and then use graphical methods to depict the quantative outcomes generated by the complex system of variables. This approach allows the student to manipulate the model and observe the resulting consequences for inequality without having to first be concerned with the underlying technical details of the quantitative system.      Support materials. The VLAB-RESI site provides a wide range of materials to support its programs and make the site more useful to educators. These materials include: User's Guides - documents describing how to use the programs. Technical Papers - documents outlining the technical details of concepts, measurements, and how quantitative results are obtained and how these are depicted using graphical methods. Guided Tours - documents providing instructions for using the programs to explore specific ideas and findings. Web Readings - documents that provide discussion of topics in racial and ethnic stratification and inequality. findings. Exercises & Projects - documents that provide instructions for conducting exercises and projects using the VLAB-RESI programs. The development and maintenance of the VLAB-RESI web site is supervised by       Mark Fossett       Professor, Department of Sociology       Research Affiliate, Race and Ethnic Studies Institute       Texas A&M University       College Station, Texas Programming assistance for the site has been provided by the following graduate assistants       Dr. Stan Hall, Sociology (1998-2000)       Srikrishna Gurugubelli, Computer Science (2000-2001)       J. D. Davis, Computer Science (1998-2001)       Ping Wang, Sociology & Computer Science (2001) Research assistance for the project has been provided by the following graduate assistants:       Dr. Stan Hall, Sociology (1998-2000)       Sharon Wiederstein, Sociology (2000-2001)       Beverly Mireles, Sociology (2001)      Major funding for the development of the VLAB-RESI web site has been provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Division of Undergraduate Education, Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program).      Significant institutional support for the VLAB-RESI web site has been provided by the following units within Texas A&M University-College Station.       Department of Sociology       Racial and the Ethnic Studies Institute       College of Liberal Arts      The American Sociological Association has provided funding support for the development of some of the resources at the VLAB-RESI web site. In addition, it has provided support in the area of promoting the site through its Footnotes newsletter and through links at its own web site.