Diversions: How the Underrepresentation of Research on Advantaged Groups Leaves Explanations for Health Inequalities Incomplete ✚

• October 6, 2020
• 12:30p.m. – 1:30p.m.
• Zoom
• Bruce G. Link, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, University of California, Riverside

RSVP: https://uci.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpc-qhrzsuGtcVcT3LnBmHssQEFzt6TClc

Link and researchers identify a gap in health inequalities research l – an underrepresentation of research on the role advantaged groups play in creating inequalities. They name the process that creates the imbalance “health inequality diversions.” They gathered evidence from awarded grants (349), major health-related datasets (7), research articles (324), and Healthy People policy recommendations. They assess whether the inequality-generating actions of advantaged groups are considered, either directly by capturing their behaviors or indirectly by asking disadvantaged people about discrimination or exploitation from advantaged groups. They further assess whether there is a tendency to locate the problem in the person or group experiencing health inequalities. They find diversions are prevalent across all steps of the knowledge development process. The “diversion” concept suggests new lines of research to understand why diversions occur and how gaps in evidence concerning the role of the advantaged might be filled.

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