Krieger, N. (2012). Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: an ecosocial approach. American journal of public health, 102(5), 936-944.

Abstract

The scientific study of how discrimination harms health requires theoretically grounded methods. At issue is how discrimination, as one form of societal injustice, be- comes embodied inequality and is manifested as health inequities.

As clarified by ecosocial theory, methods must ad- dress the lived realities of discrimination as an exploit- ative and oppressive socie- tal phenomenon operating at multiple levels and involv- ing myriad pathways across both the life course and his- torical generations.

An integrated embodied research approach hence must consider (1) the struc- tural level—past and present de jure and de facto discrim- ination; (2) the individual level—issues of domains, na- tivity, and use of both explicit and implicit discrimination measures; and (3) how cur- rent research methods likely underestimate the impact of racism on health. (Am J Pub- lic Health. 2012;102:936–945. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011. 300544)