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Cited by 263Racial and Ethnic Identity ResearchRace, Genetics, and SocietyHealth disparities and outcomes

A new conceptualization of ethnicity for social epidemiologic and health equity research

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Ford, Chandra L., Harawa, Nina T.·2010·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.008PMC PMC2908006
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Abstract

Although social stratification persists in the US, differentially influencing the well-being of ethnically defined groups, ethnicity concepts and their implications for health disparities remain under-examined. Ethnicity is a complex social construct that influences personal identity and group social relations. Ethnic identity, ethnic classification systems, the groupings that compose each system and the implications of assignment to one or another ethnic category are place-, time- and context-specific. In the US, racial stratification uniquely shapes expressions of and understandings about ethnicity. Ethnicity is typically invoked via the term, 'race/ethnicity'; however, it is unclear whether this heralds a shift away from racialization or merely extends flawed racial taxonomies to populations whose cultural and phenotypic diversity challenge traditional racial classification. We propose that ethnicity be conceptualized as a two-dimensional, context-specific, social construct with an attributional dimension that describes group characteristics (e.g., culture, nativity) and a relational dimension that indexes a group's location within a social hierarchy (e.g., minority vs. majority status). This new conceptualization extends prior definitions in ways that facilitate research on ethnicization, social stratification and health inequities. While federal ethnic and racial categories are useful for administrative purposes such as monitoring the inclusion of minorities in research, and traditional ethnicity concepts (e.g., culture) are useful for developing culturally appropriate interventions, our relational dimension of ethnicity is useful for studying the relationships between societal factors and health inequities. We offer this new conceptualization of ethnicity and outline next steps for employing socially meaningful measures of ethnicity in empirical research. As ethnicity is both increasingly complex and increasingly central to social life, improving its conceptualization and measurement is crucial for advancing research on ethnic health inequities.

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  • Ford and Hawara propose a methodology for the operationalization of race within health equity studies as a multidimensional, context-specific variable with a relational component to explicitly capture the effects of racial stratification on health outcomes.

    “For instance, Ford and Hawara propose a methodology for the operationalization of race within health equity studies as a multidimensional, context-specific variable with a relational component to explicitly capture the effects of racial stratification on health outcomes [34].”

    From Towards a critical race methodology in algorithmic fairness (2020) · cites this paper as [34]

    The Abstract and “Future Research” section propose a context-specific, multidimensional measure with a relational component for studying social stratification and health inequities. But the construct they propose operationalizing is ethnicity, not race; “Future Research” explicitly distinguishes the two. The paper also calls for further development of empirical measures rather than presenting a fully developed methodology. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Afshari R Bhopal RS Changing use of ethnicity and race in medical science: MEDLINE based comparison of trends worldwide and the USA, 1965–2005 2010 20089694
  2. Kagawa-Singer M From genes to social science: impact of the simplistic interpretation of race, ethnicity, and culture on cancer outcome Cancer 2001 91 1 Suppl 226 232 11148584
  3. Rothman KJ Greenland S Modern Epidemiology 1998 Philadelphia, PA Lippincott-Raven Publishers
  4. Roubideaux Y Studying diabetes in Native American communities American College of Epidemiology Minority Affairs Committee Pre-conference Workshop: Research Ethics in Studying Genes and the Environment in Diabetes among Ethnic Minorities 2008 Tuczon, AZ
  5. Weiser T Ethical considerations in genetic research with minority populations Research Ethics in Studying Genes and Environment in Diabetes among Racial and Ethnic Minorities: American College of Epidemiology Minority Affairs Committee Pre-Conference Workshop 2008 Tuczon, AZ
  6. Winant H The new politics of race: Globalism, difference, justice 2004 Minneapolis, MN University of Minnesota Press
  7. Yinger MJ Ethnicity Annual Review of Sociology 1985 11 151 180

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Authors
Ford, C. L., & Harawa, N. T.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Ford, Chandra L.
ORCID
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-07
Volume
71
Issue
2
Pages
251-258
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.008
PMC
PMC2908006
OpenAlex
W2112277490
Cited by
263
References
74
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 14
FWCI
35.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • W. K. Kellogg Foundation Kellogg Health Scholars Program (P0117943)
  • Drew/UCLA Project EXPORT (5-P20-MD000182-05; 2 P20MD00182-06)
  • Center for the Advancement of Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
Keywords
ethnicity, ethnic identity, racial stratification, racialization, health disparities, social stratification, minority status, nativity, culture
MeSH terms
Culture, Ethnicity, Hierarchy, Social, Humans, Minority Groups, Terminology as Topic, Social Identification, United States, Racial Groups, Health Status Disparities

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