Research
These resources discuss why diversity issues are important in scientific research.
Books
Bhui, K. (Ed.). (2002). Racism and mental health: Prejudice and suffering. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
This edited volume discusses how science has been used to promote racism.
Davis-Russell, E. (Ed.). (2002). The California School of Professional Psychology handbook of multicultural education, research, intervention, and training. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass. .
In this volume, the particularly relevant chapters are “A Multicultural Awareness in Research Practices: A Self-Reflective Process” and “Qualitative Methods: An Essential Tool for Multicultural Psychology.”
J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed., pp. 575–603). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
This tome on multicultural counseling reviews historical perspectives, ethical concerns, gender issues, higher education issues, and research and design.
Samuda, R. J. (1998). Psychological testing of American minorities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
This book examines the testing of ethnic minority populations and criticizes the way some results have been interpreted, especially the conclusions of the Hernnstein and Murray (1994) book, The Bell Curve.
Trimble, J. E., & Fisher, C. B. (2006). The handbook of ethical research with ethnocultural populations and communities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
This book has sections on the foundations of research with ethnocultural populations, conducting research with specific ethnic minority populations, conducting research with families and communities, and the rights and responsibilities of individuals, communities, and institutions.
Tucker, W. H. (2002). The funding of scientific racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
The author suggests that the Pioneer Fund has surreptitiously supported a racist agenda.
Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Berman, L. A. (1970). Minority group research. American Psychologist, 25, 281–282.
The author argues that racism is not a result of differences in culture and attitudes.
Borshuk, C. (2006). Introducing diverse perspectives into research methods classes. Teaching of Psychology, 33, 256–258.
The author suggests questions for discussion and exercises that address bias in psychological research methods and ways to overcome that bias.
Carter, L. (2004). Thinking differently about cultural diversity: Using postcolonial theory to (re)read science education. Science Education, 88, 819–836.
The author uses postcolonial theory to critically analyze views on multicultural education.
Council of National Psychological Associations for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Interests. (2000). Guidelines for research in ethnic minority communities. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
This resource includes chapters from Stanley Sue and Derald Wing Sue on research with Asian American populations; Linda James Myers, Samella Abdullah, and George Leary on research with person of African descent; Maryann Santos de Barona and Andres Barona on research with Hispanics; and Justin D. McDonald on research with Native Americans.
Dennis, R. M. (1995). Social Darwinism, scientific racism, and the metaphysics of race. Journal of Negro Education, 64, 243–252.
The author reviews what he claims are historical, racist roots of famous philosophers and scientists.
Fairchild, H. H. (1991). Scientific racism: The cloak of objectivity. Journal of Social Issues, 47, 101–115.
The author claims to refute the socio-biological perspective as supporting racial differences.
Handwerker, W. P. (2002). The construct validity of cultures: Cultural diversity, cultural theory, and a method for ethnography. American Anthropologist, 104, 106–122.
The other presents a model on the importance of cultural diversity in the relationship between parents and teachers.
Liu, W. M., Sheu, H., & Williams, K. (2004). Multicultural competency in research: Examining the relationships among multicultural competencies, research training, and self-efficacy and the multicultural environment. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 10, 324–339.
The authors present research based on a Web survey of graduate students found several relationships between multicultural competency and several factors.
Mio, J. S., & Iwamasa, G. Y. (1993). To do, or not to do: That is the question for White cross-cultural researchers. The Counseling Psychologist, 21, 197–212.
The authors discuss why ethnic minority communities may distrust White researchers, and ways in which White researchers can conduct such studies in collaboration with respected ethnic minority researchers.
Sears, D. O. (1986). College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on psychology’s view of human nature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 515–530.
The author explores the how conclusions based on college students in research may be faulty.
Sue, S. (1999). Science, ethnicity, and bias: Where have we gone wrong? American Psychologist, 54, 1070–1077.
Many reviewers have insisted that whenever an ethnic minority population is studied, there is an insistence to compare their results to a White control group. However, when a study involves White participants, there is not an insistence on comparing their results to an ethnic minority control group.
Woolf, L. M., & Hulsizer, M. R. (2007). Understanding the mosaic of humanity through research methodology: Infusing diversity into research methods courses. In D. S. Dunn, R. A. Smith, & B. Beins (Eds.), Best practices for teaching statistics and research methods in the behavioral sciences (pp. 237–256). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
This chapter highlights the means by which a research methods course can benefit from infusing diversity-related content. Six areas of diversity (i.e., race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, cross-cultural/international) are discussed related to various methodological topics such as sampling, quasi-experimental designs, internal versus external validity, questionnaire construction, and more. Representative research topics and examples explore the complexity involved in conducting research responsibly, particularly research that involves diverse populations. The CD-ROM that accompanies the text includes class exercises designed to demonstrate diversity-related research concerns.