Page 58 - The Importance of Common Metrics for Advacing Social Science Theory and Research

The Importance of Common Metrics for Advancing Social Science Theory and Research: A Workshop Summary
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13034.html

46 THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMON METRICS

• Perceptions of others versus perceptions of self that are influenced
by one’s cognitive organization of racial identification.
• The use of indicia (characteristics used by an observer) versus
criteria (formally established conditions) in determining group
membership.

The ability to trace the continental origins of human DNA and to con-
nect this information with other genetic traits yields a tempting schematic
for measuring race in a way that can be standardized, measured objectively,
and is invariant with respect to evolving attitudes and shifting public opin-
ion. However, Snipp warned, genotypes do not necessarily correspond to
phenotypes; phenotypic traits observable in the everyday lived experience
of race may or may not correspond to the continental origins measured
by genetic testing. Consequently, one may wonder about the connection
between heritage and the observed human differences associated with race.
In addition, although genes may have a great deal to say about the great
migrations of human beings, they have little bearing on the everyday lived
social experience surrounding racial differences. He commented that, al-
though assays of genetic ancestry may be a convenient way to standardize
race as a feature of biology, they are unlikely to prove a productive strategy
for the social sciences attempting to capture and understand human action
based on perceived and self-understood differences.
Snipp ended by noting that it would be ideal to have a tool for social
science research that could capture the dynamic and reflexive nature of race
and ethnicity, an instrument that would yield a standard unit of measure
across time and space. However, he cautioned, there are few clues on how
to devise such as instrument. He considered it more important to recognize
that a useful measure for scientific inquiry depends on a clearly articulated
definition or understanding of the concept under study—something cur-
rently lacking in the social sciences for the concept of race.

DISCUSSION
Kenneth Prewitt (Columbia University) commented first on Pollak’s
presentation, pointing out that he made a powerful and useful statement
that, without theory, any indicator is weak to the point of being useless in
policy making. This effect is clearly demonstrated by Pollak’s juxtaposition
of the CPI and the disability index. The CPI has a strong theoretical founda-
tion, whereas the disability index does not and consequently its use inserts
ambiguities into the policy process. Pollak argued that the dropout rate
clearly demonstrates the straightforward nature of the relationship between
theory and indices. Theory must be anchored in the policy process for the
data and measures to have significant use. The primacy of purpose—for

Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.