Definitions of Ethnicity in Communication Scholarship: A New Perspective

Abstract

To discover how ethnicity is defined in communication scholarship, we analyzed the definitions of ethnicity employed in articles published in communication journals between 2000 and 2016. Our results indicate that almost all such studies (94%) contained operational definitions; however, far fewer (approximately 14%) contained theoretical definitions of ethnicity. Theoretical definitions describe the phenomenon under study in abstract terms or in terms of concepts. Operational definitions are utilization of the concepts through assessment or measurement of them. The distinction offers the difference between conceptualization and utilization of the concept. This paper focused on conceptualization of ethnicity in communication scholarship. A thematic analysis of the theoretical definitions revealed five essential elements of ethnicity: origins, descriptors, functions, location, and interaction with the social environment. An analysis of the theoretical definitions of ethnicity published in scholarly books across the same period of time revealed the same set of elements. We used these essential elements to draft a new theoretical definition of ethnicity that highlights the central role of communication in the development and maintenance of ethnicity.

Keywords:

• Communication journals
• communication scholarship
• communication studies
• definition of ethnicity
• ethnicity
• theoretical definitions

Notes

1 By operational definition, we mean the means of assessment or measurement of ethnicity.

2 A list of every article in the sample is available online at < web address here>. [To reviewers: That list appears here as an appendix in case reviewers desire to see it.]

3 The sample contained articles from the following journals: Asian Journal of Communication, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, Communication and Medicine, Communication, Culture, & Critique, Communication Quarterly, Communication Research, Critical Discourse Studies, Discourse and Society, Gender & Society, Howard Journal of Communications, Information, Communication, & Society, International Communication Gazette, International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, International Journal of Multilingualism, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, Journal of Communication & Religion, Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, Journal of Multicultural Discourses, Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, Language & Communication, Media, Culture, and Society, and Theory, Culture, & Society.

4 We used the following definitions in differentiating methodological orientations:

Social scientific paradigm: studies “empirical observations of behavior with inductive and deductive logic to confirm and test theories […] to describe and/or predict human activity” (Croucher & Cronn-Mills, 2015, p. 41). Interpretive paradigm: studies “the social construction of meaning through the analysis of individualized purposes, goals, and intentions” (Croucher & Cronn-Mills, 2015, p. 51). Critical paradigm: studies “ways to change relationships of power and overcome oppression” (Croucher & Cronn-Mills, 2015, p. 60).

5 For example, see the following articles as critical studies: Billings et al. (2008). Wie shock: Television commentary about playing on the PGA and LPGA tours. Howard Journal of Communications, 19, 64-84; the following interpretative study: Green and Singleton (2007). Mobile selves: Gender, ethnicity and mobile phones in the everyday lives of young Pakistani-British women and men. Information, Communication & Society, 10, 506-526; and the following social scientific study: Croucher, S. M., Holody, K. J., Stephens, J. R., Xiaoqun Z., & Spencer, A.T. (2012). Argumentativeness and religiosity: The moderating effects of education and religion. Journal of Communication & Religion, 35, 132–114.