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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
The standardization of race and ethnicity in biomedical science editorials and UK biobanks
Social Studies of Science, Volume 38, No. 3, Year 2008
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Description
As the search for human genetic variation has become a priority for biomedical science, debates have resurfaced about the use of race and ethnicity as scientific classifications. In this paper we consider the relationship between race, ethnicity and genetics, using insights from science and technology studies (STS) about processes of classification and standardization. We examine how leading biomedical science journals attempted to standardize the classifications of race and ethnicity, and analyse how a sample of UK genetic scientists used the concepts in their research. Our content analysis of 11 editorials and related guidelines reveals variations in the guidance on offer, and it appears that there has been a shift from defining the concepts to prescribing methodological processes for classification. In qualitative interviews with 17 scientists, the majority reported that they had adopted socio-political classification schemes from state bureaucracy (for example, the UK Census) for practical reasons, although some scientists used alternative classifications that they justified on apparently methodological grounds. The different responses evident in the editorials and interviews can be understood as reflecting the balance of flexibility and stability that motivate standardization processes. We argue that, although a genetic concept of race and ethnicity is unlikely to wholly supplant a socio-political one, the adoption of census classifications into biomedical research is an alignment of state bureaucracy and science that could have significant consequences. © SSS and SAGE Publications.
Authors & Co-Authors
Smart, Andrew
United Kingdom, Bath
Bath Spa University
Ellison, George T.H.
United Kingdom, London
St George’s, University of London
Ashcroft, Richard Edmund
United Kingdom, London
Queen Mary University of London
Statistics
Citations: 84
Authors: 3
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1177/0306312707083759
ISSN:
14603659
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Study Approach
Qualitative