Race and population are loaded terms that are at the center of much academic debate. Determining the precise meaning of these terms is not just a matter of linguistic purity but have practical applications to research. In light of this debate, the following discusses the differences between concepts of race and population, as well as identifies the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Race is defined as a unit of people who are categorized by a superficial observable trait. Skin color is a common factor that determines race. Racial modeling assumes that the human species can be divided into a fixed number of subdivisions. Continental races, for example, are divided into four separate categories: Europeans, Africans, Asians and Aboriginal Americans. One of the strengths about the concept of race is that it is based upon observable traits and common sense notions that are easy to apply.
One problem attached to the concept of race is covariation. Although racial modeling tends to be based on a defining physical trait, such as skin color, it assumes there are associative physiological features, such as hair type and color, which shape an individual convolute. Sub-Saharan African populations, for example, are lumped together under the “African” race by their skin color. The problem is that there are independent variations in sub-Saharan African ancestries, both in skin color and hair type. Therefore, the covariation model of race is demonstrably false.
Another problem with the concept of race is internal variability. Racial classification assumes that an individual race will exhibit very little internal variation. In particular, there should be more variation between races than within races. Some races, however, exhibit 100 percent variability in a single trait. Both the world’s shortest and tallest people, for example, trace their roots to Africa (Hiernaux J, 1976).
Anthropologists have substituted the concept of race with the concept of population. A population is defined as “groups of individual organisms of the same biological species who regularly interbreed with one another more frequently than with other populations” (Unit 3, Population Genetics). Barriers between populations tend to be naturally drawn by rivers and rocks. In human populations, these barriers can be drawn by ethnic and religious differences.
Populations are defined by their collective genotype and phenotype. Genetic patterns can be deduced from phenotypic information; however, some phenotypes, such as intelligence, are chiseled by environmental pressures. Therefore, phenotypes have an indirect relationship to genotypes. The Hardy-Weinberg formula is the most commonly used way to calculate the statistical distribution of traits (Christine, 2010). A population is in a state of equilibrium if the allele frequencies from one generation to the next are constant.
A strength attached to the concept of population is that anthropologists can compare and contrast different groups of people by mapping gene pools. A weakness attached to the concept of population is that allele frequencies are not always as smooth as the Hardy-Weinberg formula demands. Sometimes, a small group of people can branch off from the original population and found a new population (O. Brien, 1993). This is known as the founder effect.
There are many differences between the concept of race and the concept of population. Races, for example, are categorized by a single defining trait. In contrast, populations are categorized by their collective genotypes, phenotypes and allele frequencies. Furthermore, the concept of population is less encompassing than the concept of race. Racial modeling, for example, considers African Americans and Native Africans as the same race because of their skin color. Population concepts consider African Americans and Native Africans as separate groups of people because geographical constraints prevents the two from regularly interbreeding.
As has been illustrated, race and population are very different concepts. Race categorizes groups of people by a single, defining trait; whereas population categorizes groups of people by collective genotypes and phenotypes. Both concepts contain strengths and weaknesses. The concepts behind racial modeling are easy to apply but fail to account for covariability and internal variability. Population can compare and contrast different groups of people by mapping their gene pools; however, gene frequency is not always as constant as common methods require. Thus, it is consideration of these points that race and population are highly loaded terms.
