An Ethics and Social Justice Approach to Collecting and Using Demographic Data for Psychological Researchers

Abstract

The collection and use of demographic data in psychological sciences has the potential to aid in transforming inequities brought about by unjust social conditions. However, current methods surrounding demographic data often accomplish the opposite: at best, reducing (but not eliminating) inequities and, at worst, perpetuating harmful stereotypes, invalidating marginalized identities, and excluding key groups from research participation or access to disseminated findings. As such, this paper aims to (1) review key ethical and social justice dilemmas inherent to working with demographic data in psychological research, and (2) introduce a framework positioned in ethics and social justice to help psychologists and researchers in aligned social science fields make thoughtful decisions about the collection and use of demographic data. Our overarching aim is to support key stakeholders in psychology (e.g., researchers, funding agencies, journal editors, peer reviewers) in making ethical and socially just decisions about the collection, analysis, reporting, and interpretation of demographic data.

Diversified innovations in the health sciences: Proposal for a Diversity Minimal Item Set (DiMIS)

“…We have not suggested adaptations to the response options as we are not experts on the British context and do not want to reproduce the non-inclusive approach taken during the census development. We strongly encourage researchers to adapt country-specific items in collaboration with ethnic and racial community stakeholders and to follow do no harm policies (Call et al, 2022;NHS England, 2023; when using the item in their research. In particular, we suggest a community based participatory research approach to ensure that the adaptive process of the assessment, and further, the research question and the communication of research results does not cause harm towards the marginalized racial and ethnic communities -even if the research was conducted with good intentions.…”

Conducting Electroencephalography With Black Individuals: Barriers, Recommendations, and Impact on Generalizability

“…Knowing the percentage of the sample that was Black for example allows others to know if the representativeness of Black people within the sample is comparable to that of Black people in the population, which could speak to the representativeness of the findings and if that is not the case it highlights a potential gap in the literature. In addition, collecting demographic variables allows researchers to evaluate the impact of demographics on any findings of the study (Call et al, 2022). These might include moderation or mediation analyses testing whether findings are consistent or distinct across participant subgroups.…”