Racial difference and social meanings: Research on "black" and "white" infants' motor development, c. 1931-1992

The notion that science objectively discovers natural "truths" is problemat ic, as social influence is always present in research. This is especially a pparent when science investigates such concepts as race, class, and gender where differential social power relations are evident. To demonstrate this assertion, we review twentieth-century research comparing "black" and "whit e" infant motor development. We have approached this paper from the stance that science is a social activity, with all observations influenced by, as well as reflective of, the values of scientists and the political leanings of the sociocultural context within which research is conducted. We suggest that when questions of group difference are pursued in science, awareness of how the categories themselves have been shaped by social and historical forces, as well as of the potential effects aar society, is important. Science, since people must do it, is a socially embedded activity. It progr esses by hunch, vision, and intuition. Much of its change through time does not record a closer approach to absolute truth, but the alteration of cult ural contexts that influence it so strongly.