Ethnic Groups

Ethnic groups are defined by the individuals who belong to them, and can be recognised and identified by people who don't belong to them (Roosens 1989:15-16). It has been argued that these groups are characterised by their perception of shared ancestry more than by actual shared beliefs or practices (Bauböck 1999:138). In many societies, one ethnic group is in the majority and one or more form minorities. This creates power imbalances between different ethnic groups (Bauböck 1999:143-4) which underpin all the challenges faced by researchers working with participants from different ethnic groups. Also, it is not possible to be sure that a research method which works well with one ethnic group will work well with another (Hannerz 1996:64). For example, a multiple-choice questionnaire in English which works well with native English speakers might not work so well with people whose first language is not English. A researcher might try to circumvent this problem by giving non-native-English-speaking participants pictures to choose from, rather than phrases or sentences. However, there are also cultural conventions in art. For example, most young English people would recognise a cartoon drawing of a stunned person from stars drawn whirling around the head and curved lines by the legs to indicate a wobbling gait. …