Making the Most of Multiple Measures

Abstract

The majority of social science research uses a single measure of race when investigating racial inequality. However, a growing body of work demonstrates that race shapes the life chances of individuals in multiple ways, related not only to how people self-identify but also to how others perceive them. As multiple measures of race are increasingly collected and used in survey research, it becomes important to consider the best methods of leveraging such data. We present four analytical approaches for incorporating two different dimensions of race in the same study and illustrate their use with data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The approaches range from tests of specific hypotheses to the most exploratory description of how different measures of race relate to social inequality. Although each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, by accounting for the multidimensionality of race, they all allow for more nuanced patterns of advantage and disadvantage than standard single-measure methods.

How Administrative Data Collection and Analysis Can Better Reflect Racial and Ethnic Identities

“…These measurement choices have several important implications for analysis. First, allowing for complex self-identification often led to groups that are too small for statistically significant estimates (in frequentist statistics) in addition to privacy concerns (Marquardt & Herrera, 2015;Prewitt, 2005;Saperstein et al, 2016;Williams & Husk, 2013). For instance, having two R/E items and allowing for more than one R/E box to be checked led the 2000 Census to have up to 189 possible R/E combinations (Prewitt, 2005).…”

“…7 As discussed above in this chapter, administrative data sets might also include multiple different measures of R/E identity. Saperstein et al (2016) wrote about several different methods for analyzing data to account for multidimensionality of R/E, with multidimensionality being measured through self-report, phenotype, observer classification, and how people think others see them. The researcher can purposefully examine differences between the two dimensions of race by having one measure predict the other.…”

Ethics of inclusion: Cultivate trust in precision medicine

“…In the face of ambivalence about how to represent population variation, there is ample evidence that researchers resort to using definitions of diversity that are heterogeneous, inconsistent, and sometimes competing (9). Varying approaches are not inherently problematic; depending on the scientific question, some measures may be more theoretically justified than others and, in many cases, a combination of measures can be leveraged to offer greater insight (10). For example, studies have shown that American adults who do not self-identify as white report better mental and physical health if they think others perceive them as white (11,12).…”

Raça e Gênero: contribuições para pesquisas nas ciências sociais e jurídicas

“…Saperstein, Kizer, & Penner afirmam que é fundamental perceber que a raça modula a vida dos indivíduos de formas múltiplas. Contudo, algumas pesquisas e pesquisadores tendem a considerar uma única forma de mensuração dos processos de racialização como se essa única forma representasse o todo; isso gera prejuízos para uma compreensão adequada dos fenômenos sociais (SAPERSTEIN, KIZER, & PENNER, 2016). É sabido que as pesquisas acadêmicas na área das ciências sociais devem seguir parâmetros que atestem a cientificidade do que foi produzido.…”

“…Contudo, além desses aspectos que oferecem o endosso dos critérios de cientificidade consagrados pela ciência moderna (tratarei desse aspecto a seguir), é fundamental que pesquisas que se voltem para a discussão sobre raça, racializações e racismo acrescentem outras dimensões essenciais para a compreensão destes fenômenos. Collins (1989); Crenshaw (2002Crenshaw ( , 2011; Saperstein et al (2016); Schucman & Fachim (2017); Schwartzman (2018); Kesler & Schwartzman (2015); Wane (2009) consideram a interseccionalidade entre classe, gênero, sexo e cor, lugar de fala e horizonte de interpretação, avaliar diversos modos de se mensurar raça, variações nos modos de se designar o pertencimento étnico, alterações nos modos de se autodeclarar baseadas na mobilidade social dentro e fora do grupo de origem, Gislene Aparecida dos Santos entre outros fatores, fundamentais para que a pesquisa nesta temática ganhe em profundidade, rigor e clareza.…”