oHC9: When race categories do not reflect racial identities: Developing guidelines for collecting and reporting data about race
To determine participants' racial identities, researchers often ask them to choose from a set of predefined race categories (e.g., “Black”, “White”). Characterizing a participant group using these categories (e.g., “X% were Black”) may suggest that race is objectively determined, or that participants would spontaneously describe their identities as such (e.g., “X% identified as Black”). Four studies, involving 572 participants, indicated that when asked to choose from a set of traditional race categories, many felt that their identities were not represented by the categories they had to settle for and reported negative feelings about being referred to by those categories. Open questions in which participants created their own labels avoided these issues. However, free-format answers are problematic to code, compile, and analyze. In this session, attendees will brainstorm ideas for developing practices that respect participants’ identities, ensure methodological feasibility, and promote a non-essentialist view of race.