Measuring ethnicity: challenges and opportunities for survey research

Publication type

Journal Article

Authors

Publication date

June 1, 2010

Abstract:

Measuring ethnic identity in social surveys has traditionally been problematic, often using a single question and allowing the respondent to choose one category from a pre-defined list. In this paper we discuss the rationale for and limitations of measuring a complex and multi-dimensional concept with a simple, uni-dimensional question. We propose that operationalizing ethnicity as multi-dimensional requires multiple questions to capture the complexity of the concept. Giving researchers a number of different measures enables them to focus on the dimensions of interest to them, and has the potential to open up the rich resources of theoretically robust survey research to researchers from a range of disciplines concerned with questions of ethnic identification.

Published in

Ethnic and Racial Studies

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 33 , p.1 -1

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870903527801

Subjects

Notes

Originally [iFirst] 9 Feb. 2010

Albert Sloman Library Periodicals *restricted to Univ. Essex registered users*

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