Investigating Discrimination Against Minorities: Methods to Identify and Measure - Essay Example

Introduction

Over the years, minority groups have experienced racial discrimination in regard to employment, housing, and other social domains. Unlike in the pre-civil rights period, where instances of racial prejudice could be easily identified, modern-day discrimination is not easily identified. This factor poses a serious threat when it comes to social science conceptualization. The proposal aims to investigate the methods used to identify and measure reported experiences of discrimination against minority groups (Khoshneviss, 2020). The primary research question will be:

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• What are the methods used to identify and measure cases of civil rights and racial discrimination?

Research Method

The main research approach will be the use of a survey instrument. Fundamentally, the interviews will be executed in various languages to ensure that all demographics are covered. The use of a survey is advantageous in this form of research because surveys bring a public health perspective concerning the density and ubiquity of discrimination. With a survey, the proposed research will aim to examine cases of discrimination from an individual perspective rather than on the beliefs of an entire region. For the proposed study, the survey will cover various groups, including the black community, women, members of LGBTQI as well as Latinos. Dixon (2010) mentioned that survey instruments allow the researcher to gain insights into the research topic by providing a wide range of information across multiple domains of life.

Human Subject Consideration

The researcher will seek informed consent from all the respondents. Ideally, all the participants will be informed of the goals and objectives of the study. Furthermore, they will be informed about how the findings will be used. This move will ensure that all participants will take part in the study voluntarily. Moreover, the anonymity and privacy of the respondents will be maintained by using pseudonyms. Participants who will decide to back out of the study will be allowed to at any point. Challenges such as miscommunication could be experienced. In this regard, the survey will be drafted in various languages to minimize this occurrence.

Sample

Primarily, stratified sampling will be used. The proposed study will utilize phone numbers, which will be randomly generated from telephones and landline sample frames. This factor implies that the study participants will be a sample from either the telephone sample frame or the landline sample frame. In this regard, the proposed sample frame will constitute two fundamental components, including a stratified main sample where all adults will qualify to participate. These respondents will be contacted through random-digit dialing of both cellphones and landlines. The next component will be the stratified oversample, where the only respondents have chosen will be members of the racial and ethnic community of interest or members of LGBTQI. This group will also be identified through random-digit dialing of both phones. Stratified sampling was chosen for the proposed study; this sampling method provides greater precision. Furthermore, it requires a smaller sample, a factor that aids in reducing the cost of the study.

Measurement and Instrumentation

For the proposed study, discrimination is defined as any action projected by dominant groups to demean the minority groups. Ideally, prejudice was identified as the motivation behind discrimination. For this study, the dependent variables will be reports of any form of discrimination. The proposed study will utilize Landrine and Klonoff's Schedule of Racist Events to evaluate the measure of discrimination. Ideally, this scale consists of 10 items that respondents to identify the frequency with which they experienced discrimination due to race. The scale will also be utilized to examine other types of discrimination. This measure is reliable in that it has been used by various scholars studying similar topics. Furthermore, the method allows the researchers to gain an estimate of the frequency of various forms of discrimination and the motivation behind them. On the other hand, the independent variables will be the features of the social status of the participants. Some of these features will include race, age, nativity, marital status, as well as financial status. These elements are significantly related to cases of discrimination.

Fundamentally, the participants will answer various questions on the survey ranging from the number of times they had been treated unfairly by a family member, and the number of times they had been discriminated against at work, among others. By asking such questions, the survey aimed to gain insights into instances of gender discrimination.

The Trustworthiness of the Research Design

The various types of validity involved in survey research include representation validity, face validity, as well as internal and external validity. Representation validity focuses on the extent to which a theoretical construct can be translated into a practical construct. Face validity entails an estimate of whether the survey measures a specific criterion. External validity is about the extent to which the survey results can be held for other cases. Ideally, the participants will be stratified into various groups. As such, the findings of the research will cover the insights of various individuals, a factor that increases the validity of the results. On the other hand, internal validity the magnitude with which the conclusions about causal relationships can be drawn based on the entire research design. In this regard, the proposed study will use good experimental conditions where the dependent and the independent variables will be evaluated under controlled conditions to ensure a high degree of internal validity. The main threat to this study could be an exaggeration. Nonetheless, this will be controlled by comparing the results with those of other studies focused on a similar research topic.

Study Limitations

The main limitations of the proposed study could include dishonest answers. Some participants may provide dishonest answers in an attempt to protect their privacy. This limitation will be controlled by assuring the participants that their privacy will be protected. Furthermore, some survey questions may be left unanswered. To minimize this problem, the survey will be short and precise enough to avoid question skipping. Furthermore, the participants may experience difficulties in understanding and interpreting the question. In this regard, the questions will be drafted in multiple languages clearly and concisely.

Possible Conclusions

The conclusions of the proposed study could include the ideology that discrimination is dependent on the social status of the individual. Previous studies have shown that while individuals in high social tiers experience discrimination, their experiences are fewer in comparison to those in the lower social tier. Issues such as financial status and prejudice can also be used to identify cases of discrimination. The study could also find that issues such as race, education, and financial difficulty may be related to gender discrimination. Ultimately, the proposed study could conclude that social patterning of reporting discrimination is different depending on the individual involved.

More studies need to be conducted should be conducted to identify the experience in various racial groups. Such a study would be critical in opening up broader discussions on the experiences of various minority groups through investigation aspects such as nativity and immigration.

References

Dixon, K. (2010). Racial discrimination and human rights in the global context: the international convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Sociology Compass, 4(9), 789-799. Https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2010.00315.x

Khoshneviss, H. (2020). Multiracials and civil rights: mixed-race stories of discrimination. Ethnic And Racial Studies, 1-3. Https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1715456