Measuring Race and Ethnicity (PDF)

Dr. Larry E. Davis is Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is the Donald M. Henderson Professor and Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems. Dr. Davis came to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of 2001. He had been a faculty member at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri since 1977, where he was a Professor of Social Work and Psychology and the holder of the E. Desmond Lee Chair in Ethnic and Racial Diversity. Dr. Davis received his PhD from the University of Michigan's dual-degree program in social work and psychology in 1977. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Michigan State University and a Master's in social work and a Master's in psychology from the University of Michigan. His professional interests include interracial group dynamics, the impact of race, gender, and class on interpersonal interactions, African American family formation, and youth. He has received research funding from sources such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, and National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Davis is the recipient of the Chancellor's 2007 Affirmative Action Award.



Dr. Rafael Engel is an Associate Professor of social work at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Engel's substantive interests are in gerontology and economic well-being and the implications of welfare reform. His most recent work in aging has focused on evaluating programmatic outcomes for vision impaired elderly. Dr. Engel is currently involved in a time-activity study with Children and Youth Services and is collaborating in a multi-university study of best practices in faith-based organizations. He teaches history, policy and research and evaluation courses across the three degree programs.

From the reviews:“The inspiration for Measuring Race and Ethnicity was Robinson and Shaver’s (1969) classic text, which entailed a collection of social­­–psychological scales categorized into the major areas of social psychology (e.g., attitudes, values, interpersonal relationships). … Measuring Race and Ethnicity is essentially an almanac of racial and ethnic measures. … the volume, breadth, and level of detail provided for scales across multiple ethnic groups still make this a very useful resource for researchers interested in the measurement of ethnicity and race-related phenomena.” (Richard D. Harvey and Cathryn D. Blue, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 56 (17), April, 2011)