Race, culture and ethnicity in minority research: a critical discussion

Race and ethnicity are terms commonly used in ethnic minority research. Both these terms present a number of problems in terms of definition and classification. It is argued here that there is a need to move beyond essentialised concepts of race and ethnicity to examine the socio-political processes which relate to their social construction and the ways in which these terms articulate with other categories such as social class and gender and structure social relationships. The implications of the social constructionist position are discussed specifically in relation to the use of interpreters and ethnic matching of researcher and respondent in qualitative research on ethnic minorities.