Recent events in the United States have placed race and racism at the center of the national conversation. Highlighted, perhaps most notably, by drastic racial inequities in COVID-19 outcomes and several high-profile killings of black civilians by law enforcement, systems of racism that have characterized the U.S. since its inception have become broadly visible, even to those who once might have ignored said fundamental structure. Rich and longstanding population health research, which demonstrates the profound inequities engendered by racism, is being widely considered in the current moment as a consequence.
With research on racial health disparities receiving widespread attention, it’s worthwhile to evaluate the assumptions and research decisions that typically underlie this useful literature. In this podcast, we feature a discussion from an interdisciplinary team of researchers on how population health scientists choose to measure, code and use race and ethnicity in their work. We discuss how defining race in health studies is a slippery, assumption-filled task; how the conceptualization and measurement of race and ethnicity fluctuates across disciplinary boundaries; and how health scholars have chosen to, historically, operationalize race and demonstrate inequities.
This episode corresponds to the IAPHS “Beyond the Boxes” blog series. This collaborative series addresses issues, explores nuances, and provides guiding questions for researchers at any stage and of any discipline to do a better job in the way they think, talk, and use race and ethnicity in their work.
Session Chair: Michael Esposito
Presenters: Rae Anne Martinez, Nafeesa Andrabi, Andrea Goodwin
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