Critical issues in the measurement of ethnic and racial identity: A referendum on the state of the field.

Abstract

Ethnic and racial identity are among the most researched topics in the multicultural counseling literature. The popularity of these constructs, combined with ongoing controversies surrounding their measurement, warrants a critical examination by scholars in the field. The author contends that a combination of science and ideology has influenced the field and warns that a rigid and uncritical adherence to old paradigms will stifle growth and the production of useful knowledge. The author provides a review of measurement issues pertaining to ethnic and racial identity research and recommendations for future research and better practices involving ethnic and racial identity instruments.

Yes we can achieve in mathematics and why we don't : African American female eleventh and twelfth grade students in a career and technical setting.

“…This reciprocal relationship has been repeatedly supported by research (Cokley, 2007 Consequently, their results showed that the students in these studies endorsed academic race stereotypes.…”

Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) Expansion: Measuring Racial, Religious, and National Aspects of Sense of Ethnic Identity Within the United Kingdom

“…Thus, we view racial identity as a core aspect of an individual's sense of ethnic identity. However, the question of whether the construct of racial identity can be subsumed within the broader construct of sense of ethnic identity (thus implying that the conceptualization and measurement of sense of ethnic identity among members of various ethnic groups should take priority over the conceptualization and measurement of racial identity among members of a particular racial group) is a matter of ongoing debate (e.g., Cokley, 2007;Helms, 2007;Phinney & Ong, 2007).…”

“…At the time that we conducted the present studies, we opted not to include Roberts et al's (1999) 12-item MEIM alongside our expanded MEIM, due to concerns that participants would conflate the terms race/racial and ethnicity/ethnic (a matter of considerable debate among researchers within ethnic psychology; e.g., Cokley, 2007;Helms, 2007;Phinney & Ong, 2007) In addition, at the time that we conducted the present studies, Schwartz et al's (2012) AIM had not been published. However, within the United States, future researchers might wish to substitute the AIM for the national identity scale within our expanded MEIM in order to determine whether American identity in particular is related to racial and religious identities (keeping in mind that the AIM, like our expanded MEIM, measures exploration and commitment as dual developmental themes).…”

“…In the wake of theoretical and empirical refinements that have occurred since the RIAS-B was published (Cokley, 2007), we recommend the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI; Sellers et al, 1997) and/or the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS; Vandiver et al, 2000), both of which were guided by the view that Black Americans' experiences with stigmatization, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination make their racial identity development unique within the United States (see Sellers et al, 1998;Worrell et al, 2001). Given that the CRIS already has been used in tandem with the 14-item MEIM (Phinney, 1992) within the United States (Worrell & Gardner-Kitt, 2006) and in tandem with the MIBI within the United States (Vandiver et al, 2002), we believe that the next logical step for researchers would be to administer the CRIS and/or MIBI together with our measure of racial identity outside as well as within the United States.…”

Intercultural Leadership: Variations in Chinese Canadian Perspectives of Career Mobility into Senior Leadership Roles

“…Although race and ethnicity are socially constructed concepts (Cokley, 2007;Trimble, 2007), there has been significant research on the structural components of exploration and resolution/commitment leading to achievement of an ethnic identity (Phinney & Ong, 2007;Yoon, 2011). Further, ethnic identity is developed at both the individual level and at the collective level due to interaction with society (Yoon, 2011), therefore environmental context is important.…”