MOST OF THE SUBJECTS WERE WHITE AND MIDDLE-CLASS - TRENDS IN PUBLISHED RESEARCH ON AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN SELECTED APA JOURNALS, 1970-1989

Six APA journals (Developmental Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) were content analyzed for the presence of empirical articles on African Americans during the 1970-1989 publication period. The analysis revealed a declining representation of African-American research in the six journals. In addition, the empirical literature that does exist was found to be lacking in methodological rigor, as defined by characteristics such as the reporting of the socioeconomic status of subjects and experimenter race. Explanations for the decline were suggested, and recommendations were proposed for alleviating the growing marginalization of African-American research in the journals of mainstream psychology.