Race and Ethnicity in Healthcare practise and research (Sociology)

Question 1

Criticisms of “Race”

Answer 1

• No biological basis for classifications based on race - social construction
• Modern genomics does not recognise the existence of separate biological human races
• Humans display variation related to historical population distributions that have resulted in specific environmental genetic mutations

Question 2

Define culture

Answer 2

• Social construct
• In social science, sets of beliefs and ideas that a defined social group draws upon to identify and manage problems in every day life
• Shared and implicit norms that regulate understanding and social behaviour

Question 3

Define social construction

Answer 3

Every day knowledge is creatively produced by individuals to solve every practical problems

We know our world through our ideas and beliefs.

Shared concepts become realities of our world

Social facts are created through mutual interpretations

Question 4

Define Ethnicity

Answer 4

• Denotes a set of cultural characteristics
• Can include common geographical and ancestral origins, language, cultural traditions

Question 5

Issues with using ethnicity to categorise in healthcare research

Answer 5

• Ethnicity is a social, not a scientific construction
• Assumes ethnic boundaries are fixed and clear, however they are dynamic and change over time
• Often reified within clinical research and can result is artifactual outcomes
• Label of ethnic difference is often imposed by majority groups
• Can result in the playing down of commonalities of life for minority groups
• May result in common experiences of racism and material deprivation being ignored

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Question 6

Guidelines for the use and
reporting of race and ethnicity in genetic researc

Answer 6

Categories of race and ethnicity must be defined within the context of the requirements of the study

How these categories relate to the hypothesis

How participants are assigned to categories

The limitations of the study in respect to the populations to which the findings can be generalised

Question 7

Definition of institutional racism

Answer 7

Discrimination on the basis of membership to an ethnic group arising from systems, structures or expectations that have become established within an institution or organisation