Racial, Ethnic, and Geographic Diversity in Population Neuroscience

Abstract

In this chapter, we consider lack of racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity in research studies from a public health perspective in which representation of a target population is critical. We review the state of the research field with respect to racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity in study participants. We next focus on key factors which can arise from the lack of diversity and can negatively impact external validity. Finally, we argue that the public's health, and future research, will ultimately be served by approaches from both recruitment and representation science and population neuroscience, and we close with recommendations from these two fields to improve diversity in studies.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias; External validity; Public health; Recruitment and representation science; Representativeness.