The term 'race' is often used in a way that purports to identify differences between human population groups. This usage has been discredited scientifically. The only legitimate sociological usage is one, which identifies race as a particular kind of social relationship constructed in, and through, racist reasoning.

An alternative way of thinking about human diversity is one, which invokes the concept of ethnicity. There is no single, universally accepted definition of ethnicity. Most academic commentators would stress some sort of cultural distinctiveness as the mark of ethnic grouping.

Ethnicity, is more a matter of process by which boundaries are created and maintained between ethnic groups

Measuring/assessing ethnicity is not simple, consider the following:

• What would you class as your ethnic group?

Ethnicity is situational. The implication is that people have different ethnic identities in different situations. Their salience is affected by such factors as the distribution of desired resources and the objectives of the people concerned. Thus it is possible to be simultaneously English, British, and European, stressing these identities more or less strongly in different aspects of daily life. Similarly, the same person might identify as Gujerati, Indian, Hindu, East African Asian, or British depending on situation, immediate objectives, and the responses and behaviour of others.