Ethnicity
Ethnicity – a complex concept
“Ethnicity can be described as a form of (individual and collective) identity that draws on notions of ancestry, cultural commonality and geographical origins. The boundaries of ethnic groups are symbolic and marked by practices of, for example, language, religion or, more generally, ‘culture’. Ethnicity also often incorporates race, which invokes notions of shared physical features, most particularly represented through skin colour.
We understand ethnicity not as something essential, intrinsic or fixed, but as socially constructed; a way of labelling and grouping people that has been devised by society throughout long histories of social disaggregation. Through the discursive generation of racial and ethnic groups, differences are accorded social significance. This identification, rendering of meaning and value, and placement on a hierarchal scale is a process described as racialisation. Racial classification and racialisation have been central to historically determined colonial systems of domination that are ongoing and employ racial hierarchies as a rationale for exploitation, marginalisation and exclusion of those considered to be inferior” (Finney et al., 2023:2-3).
Ethical issues
The use of ethnicity in research therefore raises ethical considerations in the way the data is interpreted and reported. This is often compounded by the way that ethnicity and migration characteristics are often interchangeable in common discourse. This article on our Data Impact blog highlights some of the considerations that we recommend researchers to consider when using data on race and migration.
Accessing ethnicity data
Ethnic categories are used in many of the surveys we hold, though at times the samples are very small, making it difficult to draw conclusions. Some surveys, such as Understanding Society – the UK Household Longitudinal Study, use ethnic minority boost samples to address this weakness. The census provides comprehensive coverage of ethnic groups and our Learning Hub contains explainers on the categories associated with some variables including ethnicity and migration.
The aggregate census data gives details at neighbourhood level while the microdata allows multivariate analysis by ethnic group. Administrative data collects ethnic data, though the categories for research are often limited. Caution is needed with census and administrative data as evidence suggests that people may be reluctant to answer the question.
We also hold data from the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), a unique cross-sectional survey of ethnic minorities carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic that provides comprehensive evidence of health and well-being, work and employment, housing and experiences of racism for ethnic groups. The full dataset is available in our data catalogue and an open teaching dataset has also been developed.
More resources
Workshop slides and recording: Introduction to the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS)
Workshop slides and recording: Teaching with the EVENS dataset
Case study: Ethnicity and deprivation in England
Some key datasets
Here are some popular datasets within the theme of ethnicity.