The meaning of race in psychology and how to change it: a methodological perspective

The primary purpose of this article was to offer a methodological critique in support of arguments that racial categories should be replaced as explanatory constructs in psychological research and theory. To accomplish this goal, the authors (a) summarized arguments for why racial categories should...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The American psychologist Vol. 60; no. 1; p. 27
Main Authors:	Helms, Janet E, Jernigan, Maryam, Mascher, Jackquelyn
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01.01.2005
Subjects:	Continental Population Groups Depression - psychology Humans Psychology - methods
ISSN:	0003-066X
Online Access:	Get more information
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Summary:	The primary purpose of this article was to offer a methodological critique in support of arguments that racial categories should be replaced as explanatory constructs in psychological research and theory. To accomplish this goal, the authors (a) summarized arguments for why racial categories should be replaced; (b) used principles of the scientific method to show that racial categories lack conceptual meaning; (c) identified common errors in researchers' measurement, statistical analyses, and interpretation of racial categories as independent variables; and (d) used hierarchical regression analysis to illustrate a strategy for replacing racial categories in research designs with conceptual variables. Implications for changing the study of race in psychology are discussed.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0003-066X
DOI:	10.1037/0003-066X.60.1.27