The Question of Researcher Ethnicity Posted on July 23, 2007 Researchers, regardless of ethnicity, have an obligation to explain to minority participants why their work is legitimate, states Christopher L. Edwards (bio).

Many often believe that as a black researcher we have more advantage in terms of access to black populations than do white researchers. In truth, that is not the case. Although I am black, a black male, I still work for a white institution. I work for Duke University Medical Center. And people don’t see a black male coming in. They see a black male who works for Duke University Medical Center.

We have to look back at the historical context to really understand why that is important. We realize that, for example, I’ll go back to Tuskegee. A part of the recruitment strategy for the Tuskegee physicians was they hired a black nurse. And that black nurse was the face of their study. And that black nurse assisted to, in fact, execute the same ills as did those white researchers. And so it is the case that often the community is as immune to my rhetoric as they would be the rhetoric of a white researcher.

And I have the same obligations to prove and demonstrate that what I am doing is legitimate and worthy as would any other researcher. I say independent of the characteristics of the researcher, there is a genuine obligation to demonstrate that what you’re doing is legitimate and that your interest is legitimate.

And I think anyone, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or other, who is willing and able to do that, will do well with minority populations.

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