The world of research has never been more inclusive than it is now. Only 100 years ago, nearly all researchers were white and men. Research participants were primarily white men as well. Classic social science studies including the Stanford Prison Experiment only included college-aged men as participants, while people of color were forcibly experimented upon, resulting in inhumane pain and in some cases, death.
Research is essential to developing new treatments for diseases, creating new processes to enhance learning within our educational systems, understanding how to market a new product to consumers, and much more. Research serves as a means of finding innovative, pioneering, and progressive ways to improve different systems spanning across multiple disciplines of study. While there is a common understanding surrounding the importance of research, this article attempts to explore the importance of diversity within research from the participant and researcher standpoint.
Diversity among Research Participants
While most of these problems have diminished to at least some extent in modern times, we still have more work to do. With regard to research participants, diversity is greatly lacking, but results are usually assumed to be generalizable to everyone.
From a global perspective, up to 80% of research participants can be described by the “WEIRD” acronym — white, educated, and from industrialized, rich, and democratic societies. Only approximately 12% of people around the world live in this type of society. When researching primarily “WEIRD” people, the results may not generalize well to people of all income levels living in different parts of the world. In addition, nearly half of social science research draws from college students at the university where the research is being conducted. College students are generally younger, wealthier, and more privileged than the general population at large, making the frame of generalizability even narrower.
Representation matters when it comes to recruiting research participants. When diverse populations are not included in research, people question the validity of the results, and rightly so. How do we assure that our research is inclusive? Below are some key tips to consider.
Recruiting and including diverse participants:
