2007-03-20 14:52:37 · 6 answers · asked by Yenny A 1 in Social Science ➔ Sociology
because it continually changes and in fact some elements for a group of people are already vanishing... take language for example... some languages ahave only ONE speaker in the whole wide world because the race is practically vanishing so they are in a hurry to document what is still there and preserve what they can...
2007-03-20 14:58:26 · answer #1 · answered by AtsirkEiram 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Racial classification is subjective. People learn how to label themselves through experiences with other people. This starts with your family and continues as you age with the people you encounter in the rest of society. If people would start labeling themselves all the same, we would be able to end discrimination. However, our racial identity is important because people are social creatures by nature and long to be part of a group. This leads to a need for 'in-groups' and 'out-groups'. One of the easiest ways to do this is by skin color. Because people have to process information about a situation so quickly, we have to take shortcuts and this is one that has prevailed over time.
This is also the reason that fashion and style are so important to young people. They are trying on new 'selves' and do so through clothes and other material possessions.
Using shortcuts to assess a person is natural, but in many situations can be very misleading.
Collecting information on racial data can help to see other trends within a society. In puerto rico, there are something like 19 different racial 'categories'. As an american, if i saw these exact same people, I would still only come up with 5 or 6, because of how i've been taught by my family and my social setting.
It would be interesting to know if people in societies with more classifications are more or less likely to have negative feelings about 'out-group' members. (thanks for the idea, by the way)
2007-03-20 23:14:44 · answer #2 · answered by misspurrl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only by collected data based on racial categories can we document whether or not there is progress toward racial equality. Racial categories are very imperfect, but this kind of data is extremely important... there are people who would like to pretend there is no such thing as racism anymore, but its effects are quite easily measured.
2007-03-20 23:18:55 · answer #3 · answered by dowcet 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why wouldn't you collect data on race, indeed on anything? Are you one of those fascists working hard to abolish affirmative action type programs?
2007-03-20 23:57:36 · answer #4 · answered by mcd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they collect on people information. data of age, race, ect--ect.
i think the gov. does this. how else would they know how many people are here.
2007-03-21 14:45:39 · answer #5 · answered by J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
So we can change it. We've got to be able to clearly define the problem to change it.
2007-03-21 08:48:05 · answer #6 · answered by DrThorne 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋