The meaning and measurement of race in the U.S. census: Glimpses into the future

Abstract

The 1996 Racial and Ethnic Targeted Test (RAETT) was a "mail-out mail-back" household survey with an experimental design of eight alternative questionnaire formats containing systematic variations in race, instructions, question order, and other aspects of the measurement. The eight different questionnaires were administered to random subsamples of six "targeted" populations: geographic areas with ethnic concentrations of whites, blacks, American Indians, Alaskan natives, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics. The major conclusion is that allowing multiple responses to the "race" question in the 2000 census (and other variations in measurement that were considered in RAETT) had only a slight impact on the measured racial composition of the population. Another finding was a dramatic reduction in nonresponse to the combined race/Hispanic-origin question relative to all other questionnaire formats. We conclude that the concept of "origins" may be closer to the popular understanding of American diversity than is the antiquated concept of race.

Homes of low-income minority families with asthmatic children have increased condition issues

“…The U.S. Census allows people to self-identify and beginning in 2000, the U.S. Census has allowed individuals to self-identify as more than one racial/ethnic group. 34 Ethnicity reflects selfidentification with cultural traditions that provide personal meaning and boundaries among groups. 35 Although this self-identification may not be fixed and is formed and transformed in relation to representation to the external audience, it is the best practical method for determination of race/ethnicity.…”

Multiracial versus Collective Black Categories

“…The tension regarding self-identification flows from the fact that there are no unambiguous scientific criteria with which to classify individuals into one racial group or another (Hirschman et al, 2000). The contemporary standard of employing self-identification in censuses as opposed to interviewer-classification reflects an understanding that people are racially what they say they are (Perlmann and Waters, 2002).…”

Identifying race and ethnicity in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

“…While race was often viewed as an immutable, biological classification in the past, both race and ethnicity are now typically conceptualized as a reflection of self-identity (Gould, 1996;Harris, 1968;Hirschman, Alba, & Farley, 2000). Moreover, the manner in which individuals form this self-identity is itself a function of race and ethnicity.…”