Numeric underrepresentation alone poorly captures what makes a minority group.

Evidence

A more complex conceptualization of the minority may help advance understanding, for as both commonsense and an analysis of laypersons’ views of minority status suggest, the ecological validity of distinctions based solely on number may be considerably less than ideal (Seyranian et al., 2008). — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1419

Categorization

• QUESTION: What concrete alternative measures of minority status exist beyond number — power, status, visibility, cohesion?
• XREF: connects to: Most community groups lack formal records, biasing roster-based measures. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 1492