Studying multiracial adolescents' racial self‐categorization(s): Conceptual, methodological, and analytic recommendations

When Multiracial youth respond to demographic questions about their race in surveys (e.g., What is your race/ethnicity?) they must reconcile their lived experiences, consider others' expectations, and weigh various contextual factors when responding. Although such racial self-categorization choices are a fundamental aspect of Multiracial realities, multiple empirical and analytic roadblocks limit the ability to study these choices quantitatively as an outcome and with a critical lens. In this theoretical and conceptual manuscript, we address such potential roadblocks by exploring various models suitable for categorical racial self-categorization outcomes (i.e., logistic regression, multinomial logistic regression, structural equation models). We first explain the significance of racial-self-categorization(s) in the development as well as empirical study of Multiracial adolescents. Next, we describe our theoretical grounding in critical quantitative frameworks, which we use to frame our analysis of data collection and analytical modeling strategies researchers might employ when studying racial self-categorization among Multiracial youth. These insights support the field of adolescent development by improving our understanding and development of Multiracial adolescents and advancing critical discourse that challenges "race-neutral" and (mono)racist methodologies.