Investigating Workplace Discrimination: How to Design Survey Questionnaire Posed to Minority Groups.

Sammanfattning: Workplace discrimination exists in the Swedish work environment. Minority groups (such as immigrants, persons from ethno-racial backgrounds different from the majority population, persons of non-normative sexual orientation, gender, or religious background) may experience discrimination or the fear of possible exposure to discrimination in the workplace. This presents an additional form of stress referred to as ‘minority stress’. Minority Stress is added stress to general stressors experienced by all people that is unique to minority groups. In the workplace, workplace discrimination is a psychosocial risk factor which could lead to minority stress. To address this risk, studies aimed at eliminating health and other disparities requires quality and methodologically sound research on racial/ethnic minorities, yet little guidelines are available. This thesis aims to bridge this gap and adopts ethno-racialization and participatory research frameworks to elicit the views and opinions of eight (8) ethno-racialized minorities in Sweden on how survey items investigating workplace discrimination in Sweden could be designed in a sensitive, non-stigmatizing manner that does not reinforce negative stereotypes. Study participants included five men and three women aged between 18 – 45 years old recruited through opportunistic, snowball sampling technique, with Swedish work experience between1 – 10 years, and working across academia, hospitality, communication, and health sectors. Participants responded to survey questionnaire and were interviewed on four key areas: Demographics; Ethno-racialization questions; Sample of various wordings on discrimination questions and Technology related questions regarding data collection, storage, and access.The result from this study show that “language” used in the wording of survey questions directed at ethno-racialized minorities is an important element if/how they respond and interpret questions. In this regard, using unclear and indirect language that is vague, ambiguous in survey questionnaire could lead to multiple interpretations and impact the validity of data collected. The study also found that ethno-racialized persons are not a homogenous group and as such, how they interpret and respond to survey questions indicate differences and reflect their individual preferences. The study concludes that survey items investigating workplace discrimination among ethno-racialized minorities should be designed using language that is direct and considers the varied opinions and perspectives of members of the group – that is, ethno-racialized minorities come from diverse backgrounds and their views are not homogenous.