Essay Example on CONCEPTUALIZING AND OPERATIONALIZING VARIABLES

Because races are based on appearance to some its ascribed meaning that people are assigned and racial categories based on what other people see Even if somebody could be mistaken for a certain racial category can still apply to them These categories are fluid and our ideas of regional groupings change all the time The population of the world is becoming increasingly mixed but even a person with multiple races will still ultimately belong to a racial category themselves whether or not it s the same as their parents Operationalize the variable RACE White is described to individuals who have background in Europe Middle East or North America Cassidy Grieco 2001 Black or African American describes people with background in any of the groups in Africa such as Black African American Nigerian and Haitian Cassidy Grieco 2001 American Indian and Alaskan Native refer to individuals having a background in either North or South America and who have continuous tribal history It includes Rosebud Sioux Chippewa and Navajo Cassidy Grieco 2001 Asian describes individuals with background of the Far East Southeast Asia Including individuals who state their race as Asian Indian Chinese Filipino Korean Japanese Vietnamese or other Asians such as Burmese Hmong and Pakistani Cassidy Greico 2001 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander describes individuals of backgrounds in Hawaii Guam Samoa and other Pacific Islands such as Guamanian Chamorro and Samoan Other forms of race include Moroccan South African Belizean and Hispanic Mexican Puerto Rican and Cuban Cassidy Greico 2001 Everyone s view and perceptions of the word race is different and Understanding what conceptual and operational definitions has to do with census and race can impact that view Not everyone will categorize themselves in a group that the feel they don t belong 

Also it depends on how some individual views the word race not everyone will have the same view on what race is and how it is being presented to them Last instead of having one category with multiple races in it the change allowed people to answer more specifically Defining one's race is not easy and I think that the Census Bureau s conceptualization and operationalization of race does and doesn't match my view of race at 100 Checking a box that you are but not really are categorized as may make one feel like they are nothing Take My children for example They are mixed they are white and Hispanic I have no problem marking them down as Hispanic but they have no categories to choose when it comes to their race They have white black native American Asian or Hawaiian how is this going to make them feel when it comes to checking that box REFERENCES BABBIE E 2011 THE BASICS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH 5TH EDITION CASSIDY R GRIECO E 2001 OERVIEW OF RACE AND HISPANIC ORIGIN RETRIEVED FROM HTTPS WWW CENSUS GOV PROD 2001