Assessing Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Health

This book deals specifically with the historical basis for use of terms in race, gender, ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation. It brings clarity and identifies the ethical issues as well as the technical challenges inherent in measuring these elusive concepts.

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Where there are patients, clients, or study participants, there are data. And when data involve personal variables of race, ethnicity, gender, and/or sexual orientation, questions of relevance and marginalization often arise. Assessing Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Health Research brings needed clarity to the debate by identifying the ethical issues as well as the technical challenges inherent in measuring these elusive concepts.





Sana Loue expands on her work begun in Gender, Ethnicity, and Health Research by paralleling the evolution of racial and sexual categories with the development of health research. Her review of the literature clearly explains when and why the use of classification systems may be both clinically and morally appropriate. In addition, Loue provides a salient guide to assessment tools currently used in measuring racial and sexual constructs, identity, and experience.


- Overview of categories in their sociopolitical context


- Self-definition vs. definition by others: methodological considerations


- Review of the overlapping roles of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in health, health care, and health care disparities


- Selected measures for assessing ethnicity, ethnic identification, and levels of acculturation


- Suggested dimensions for assessing sexual orientation


- Current diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorder


Given the prevalence of ethnic- and gender-based data collection throughout the health and mental health fields, this book’s usefulness is not limited to the research community. Physicians, therapists, social workers, and sociologists will find this clear-minded volume an important source of instruments - and insights.