Problems in Studying Class and Ethnicity

Problems in Studying Class and Ethnicity

Several intractable problems confront the scholar who tries to determine the relationship among social class, ethnicity, and cognitive and motivational styles. Most of the literature describing the cognitive and motivational styles of ethnic students includes little or no discussion of social class or other factors that might cause within group variations, such as gender, age, or situational aspects. Social class is often conceptualized and measured differently in studies that include class as a variable; this makes it difficult to compare results from different studies. Researchers frequently use different scale and instruments to measure variables related to cognitive, learning, and motivational styles. Operationally defining social class, especially across different ethnic and cultural groups, os one of the most difficult tasks facing social scientists today.

The nature of social class is changing in the United States. Behavior associated with the lower class 15 years ago – such as single parent families – is now common in the middle class. Because social class is a dynamic and changing concept, it is difficult to study social class over time and across different cultural and ethnic groups.

(James A. Banks, 1997: 53)