tHE RACE VARIABLE: hOW STATISTICAL PRACTICES rEINFORCE iNEQUALITY
Jay S. Kaufman offers a clear and accessible guide to understanding the use and abuse of statistics on racial and ethnic disparities. Examining dozens of real-world examples spanning medicine, economics, education, and criminal justice, he shows how typical statistical practices—no matter how well-intentioned—have obscured the realities of injustice, with significant consequences for public policy.
Click here to get your copy from Columbia University Press.
Click here to get your copy from Columbia University Press.
Book Launch Event
Date: Friday, 22 May, 2026
Time: Starting at 3 PM
📍Thomson House, Ballroom (3rd Floor)
Address: 3650 McTavish, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1Y2 Canada
Join us on Friday, May 22, 2026, for the launch of Jay S. Kaufman’s new book, The Race Variable: How Statistical Practices Reinforce Inequality.
The event will feature:
Librairie Paragraphe will be onsite to sell copies of the book!
Note: Complimentary drinks and light finger foods will be served. Please indicate any dietary restrictions in the registration form.
Register now to reserve your spot!
Date: Friday, 22 May, 2026
Time: Starting at 3 PM
📍Thomson House, Ballroom (3rd Floor)
Address: 3650 McTavish, Montréal, Québec, H3A 1Y2 Canada
Join us on Friday, May 22, 2026, for the launch of Jay S. Kaufman’s new book, The Race Variable: How Statistical Practices Reinforce Inequality.
The event will feature:
- An introduction by Erin Strumpf
- A book overview by Jay S. Kaufman
- Commentary from Chanelle Howe and Robert Hummer
- A panel discussion followed by audience Q&A
Librairie Paragraphe will be onsite to sell copies of the book!
Note: Complimentary drinks and light finger foods will be served. Please indicate any dietary restrictions in the registration form.
Register now to reserve your spot!
Panelists
Dr. Chanelle Howe is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology within the Brown University School of Public Health. She has an appointment with Brown's Center for Epidemiologic Research, is a member of the Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research, and is a faculty associate with Brown's Population Studies and Training Center. She also serves as an Editor for the American Journal of Epidemiology. Dr. Howe is a leading expert in the study of racial health disparities as well as in identifying sources of and minimizing the impact of selection bias. Her research interests also include causal inference, infectious diseases, as well as the health effects of social and economic policies.
Dr. Robert A. Hummer is the Howard W. Odum Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Fellow of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). He served as the 2021 President of the Population Association of America and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2023. His research focuses on the accurate documentation and more complete understanding of health and mortality disparities in the United States. He is currently Director and Principal Investigator of the long-running National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Add Health is one of the most innovative and well-utilized nationally representative longitudinal studies of Americans ever undertaken and provides data for thousands of researchers to more fully understand the multi-level (biological, survey, contextual) life course factors that contribute to health and health disparities among US adolescents and adults.
This event is co-sponsored by the McGill Centre on Population Dynamics (CPD) and School of Population and Global Health (SPGH).
