# Census 2000 Special EEO Tabulation Files

### Technical Documentation for ASCII Files

# 

# Appendix 9: Subject Matter Descriptions

**INDUSTRY AND OCCUPATION**

The data on industry and occupation were derived from answers to
long-form questionnaire Items 27 and 28 respectively, which were asked
of a sample of the population 15 years old and over. Information on
industry relates to the kind of business conducted by a person's
employing organization and occupation describes the kind of work a
person does on the job.

For employed people, the data refer to the person's job during the
reference week. For those who

worked at two or more jobs, the data refer to the job at which the
person worked the greatest

number of hours during the reference week. For unemployed people, the
data refer to their last

job. The industry and occupation statistics are derived from the
detailed classification systems

developed for Census 2000 as described below.

Respondents provided the data for the tabulations by writing on the
questionnaires descriptions

of their industry and occupation. These descriptions were data captured
and sent to an automated

coder (computer software), which assigned a portion of the written
entries to categories in the

classification system. The automated system assigned codes to 59 percent
of the industry entries

and 56 percent of the occupation entries. Those cases not coded by the
computer were referred to

clerical staff in the Census Bureau's National Processing Center in
Jeffersonville, Indiana, for

coding. The clerical staff converted the written questionnaire responses
to codes by comparing

these responses to entries in the *Alphabetical Index of Industries and
Occupations*. For the

industry code, these coders also referred to an Employer Name List. This
list, prepared from the

American Business Index (ABI), contained the names of business
establishments and their North

American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes converted to
population census

equivalents. This list facilitated coding and maintained industrial
classification comparability.

**Occupation**

The occupational classification system used during Census 2000 consists
of 509 specific

occupational categories for employed people arranged into 23 major
occupational groups. This

classification was developed based on the *Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC) Manual:*

*2000,* which includes a hierarchical structure showing 23 major
occupational groups divided into

96 minor groups, 449 broad groups, and 821 detailed occupations. For
Census 2000, tabulations

with occupation as the primary characteristic present several levels of
occupational detail.

Some occupation groups are related closely to certain industries.
Operators of transportation

equipment, farm operators and workers, and healthcare providers account
for major portions of

their respective industries of transportation, agriculture, and health
care. However, the industry

categories include people in other occupations. For example, people
employed in agriculture

include truck drivers and bookkeepers; people employed in the
transportation industry include

mechanics, freight handlers, and payroll clerks; and people employed in
the health care industry

include occupations such as security guard and secretary.

**Industry**

The industry classification system used during Census 2000 was developed
for the census and

consists of 265 categories for employed people, classified into 14 major
industry groups. From

1940 through 1990, the industrial classification has been based on the
*Standard Industrial*

*Classification (SIC) Manual*. The Census 2000 classification was
developed from the 1997 North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) published by the Office
of Management and

Budget, Executive Office of the President. NAICS is an industry
description system that groups

establishments into industries based on the activities in which they are
primarily engaged.

The NAICS differs from most industry classifications because it is a
supply-based, or

production-oriented economic concept. Census data, which were collected
from households, differ in detail and nature from those obtained from
establishment surveys. Therefore, the census

classification system, while defined in NAICS terms, cannot reflect the
full detail in all categories.

#### SEX

The data on sex, which was asked of all people, were derived from
answers to long-form

questionnaire Item 3 and short-form questionnaire Item 5. Individuals
were asked to mark either

''male'' or ''female'' to indicate their sex. For most cases in which
sex was not reported, it was

determined from the person's given (i.e., first) name and household
relationship. Otherwise, sex

was imputed according to the relationship to the householder and the age
of the person.

**RACE**

The data on race, which was asked of all people, were derived from
answers to long-form

questionnaire Item 6 and short-form questionnaire Item 8. The concept of
race, as used by the

Census Bureau, reflects self-identification by people according to the
race or races with which

they most closely identify. These categories are socio-political
constructs and should not be

interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature.
Furthermore, the race categories

include both racial and national-origin groups.

The racial classifications used by the Census Bureau adhere to the
October 30, 1997, Federal

Register Notice entitled, *''Revisions to the Standards for the
Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity,''* issued by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These standards govern the
categories used to collect and present federal data on race and
ethnicity. The OMB requires five minimum categories (White, Black or
African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native
Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander) for race. The race categories are
described below with a sixth category, ''Some other race,'' added with
OMB approval. In addition to the five race groups, the OMB also states
that respondents should be offered the option of selecting one or more
races.

If an individual did not provide a race response, the race or races of
the householder or other

household members were assigned using specific rules of precedence of
household relationship.

For example, if race was missing for a natural-born child in the
household, then either the race or

races of the householder, another natural-born child, or the spouse of
the householder were

assigned. If race was not reported for anyone in the household, the race
or races of a householder

in a previously processed household were assigned.

**White.** A person having origins in any of the original peoples of
Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who
indicate their race as ''White'' or report entries such as Irish,
German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.

**Black or African American.** A person having origins in any of the
Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their
race as ''Black, African Am., or Negro,'' or provide written entries
such as African American, Afro-American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.

**American Indian or Alaska Native.** A person having origins in any of
the original peoples of

North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain
tribal affiliation or

community attachment. It includes people who classified themselves as
described below.

*American Indian.* This category includes people who indicated their
race as ''American Indian,''

entered the name of an Indian tribe, or reported such entries as
Canadian Indian, French American Indian, or Spanish American Indian.

*Alaska Native.* This category includes written responses of Eskimos,
Aleuts, and Alaska Indians as well as entries such as Arctic Slope,
Inupiat, Yupik, Alutiiq, Egegik, and Pribilovian. The Alaska tribes are
the Alaskan Athabascan, Tlingit, and Haida. The information for Census
2000 is based on the American Indian Tribal Classification List for the
1990 census, which was expanded to list the individual Alaska Native
Villages when provided as a written response for race.

**Asian.** A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the
Far East, Southeast Asia, or

the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India,
Japan, Korea, Malaysia,

Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes
''Asian Indian,'' ''Chinese,''

''Filipino,'' ''Korean,'' ''Japanese,'' ''Vietnamese,'' and ''Other
Asian.''

**Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.** A person having origins
in any of the original

peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes
people who indicate their

race as ''Native Hawaiian,'' ''Guamanian or Chamorro,'' ''Samoan,'' and
''Other Pacific Islander.''

**Some other race.** This category includes all other responses not
included in the ''White,'' ''Black or African American,'' ''American
Indian or Alaska Native,'' ''Asian,'' and ''Native Hawaiian or Other
Pacific Islander'' race categories described above. Respondents
providing write-in entries such as multiracial, mixed, interracial, or a
Hispanic/Latino group (for example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) in
the ''Some other race'' write-in space are included in this category.

**Two or more races.** People may have chosen to provide two or more
races either by checking

two or more race response check boxes, by providing multiple write-in
responses, or by some

combination of check boxes and write-in responses. The race response
categories shown on the

questionnaire are collapsed into the five minimum races identified by
the OMB, and the Census

Bureau ''Some other race'' category. For data product purposes, ''Two or
more races'' refers to

combinations of two or more of the following race categories:

1\. White

2\. Black or African American

3\. American Indian and Alaska Native

4\. Asian

5\. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

6\. Some other race

There are 57 possible combinations involving the race categories shown
above. Thus, according to this approach, a response of ''White'' and
''Asian'' was tallied as two or more races, while a response of
''Japanese'' and ''Chinese'' was not because ''Japanese'' and
''Chinese'' are both Asian responses. Tabulations of responses involving
reporting of two or more races within the American Indian and Alaska
Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander categories
are available in other data products.

Given the many possible ways of displaying data on two or more races,
data products will provide varying levels of detail. The most common
presentation shows a single line indicating ''Two or more races.'' Some
data products provide totals of all 57 possible combinations of two or
more races, as well as subtotals of people reporting a specific number
of races, such as people

reporting two races, people reporting three races, and so on.

In other presentations on race, data are shown for the total number of
people who reported one

of the six categories alone or in combination with one or more other
race categories. For example, the category, ''Asian alone or in
combination with one or more other races'' includes people who reported
Asian alone and people who reported Asian in combination with White,
Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
and Some other race. This number, therefore, represents the maximum
number of people who reported as Asian in the question on race. When
this data presentation is used, the individual race categories will add
to more than the total population because people may be included in more
than one category.

***Comparability.*** The data on race in Census 2000 are not directly
comparable to those collected

in previous censuses. The October 1997 revised standards issued by the
OMB led to changes in

the question on race for Census 2000. The Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal
data were the first to

reflect these changes. First, respondents were allowed to select more
than one category for race.

Second, the sequence of the questions on race and Hispanic origin
changed. In 1990, the question

on race (Item 4) preceded the question on Hispanic origin (Item 7) with
two intervening questions. For Census 2000, the question on race
immediately follows the question on Hispanic origin. Third, there were
terminology changes to the response categories, such as spelling out

''American'' instead of ''Amer.'' for the American Indian or Alaska
Native category; and adding

''Native'' to the Hawaiian response category. The 1990 category, ''Other
race,'' was renamed ''Some other race.'' Other differences that may
affect comparability involve the individual categories on the Census
2000 questionnaire. The 1990 category, ''Asian and Pacific Islander,''
was separated into two categories, ''Asian'' and ''Native Hawaiian and
Other Pacific Islander'' for Census 2000.

Accordingly, on the Census 2000 questionnaire, there were seven Asian
categories and four

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander categories. The two residual
categories, ''Other Asian'' and ''Other Pacific Islander,'' replaced the
1990 single category ''Other API.'' The 1990 categories, ''American
Indian,'' ''Eskimo,'' and ''Aleut,'' were combined into ''American
Indian and Alaska Native.'' American Indians and Alaska Natives can
report one or more tribes.

As in 1980 and 1990, people who reported a Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
in the question on race

and did not mark a specific race category were classified in the ''Some
other race'' category

(''Other'' in 1980 and ''Other race'' in 1990). They commonly provided a
write-in entry such as

Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Latino. In the 1970 census, most of these
responses were included in

the ''White'' category. In addition, some ethnic entries that in 1990
may have been coded as White or Black are now shown in the ''Some other
race'' group.

**HISPANIC OR LATINO**

The data on the Hispanic or Latino population, which was asked of all
people, were derived from

answers to long-form questionnaire Item 5, and short-form questionnaire
Item 7. The terms

''Spanish,'' ''Hispanic origin,'' and ''Latino'' are used
interchangeably. Some respondents identify with all three terms, while
others may identify with only one of these three specific terms.
Hispanics or Latinos who identify with the terms ''Spanish,''
''Hispanic,'' or ''Latino'' are those who classify themselves in one of
the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the questionnaire
--- ''Mexican,'' ''Puerto Rican,'' or ''Cuban'' --- as well as those who
indicate that they are ''other Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino.'' People
who do not identify with one of the specific origins listed on the
questionnaire but indicate that they are ''other Spanish, Hispanic, or
Latino'' are those whose origins are from Spain, the Spanish-speaking
countries of Central or South America, the Dominican Republic, or people
identifying themselves generally as Spanish, Spanish-American, Hispanic,
Hispano, Latino, and so on. All write-in responses to the ''other
Spanish/Hispanic/Latino'' category were coded.

Origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or
country of birth of the person

or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United
States. People who identify

their origin as Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino may be of any race.

Some tabulations are shown by the origin of the householder. In all
cases where the origin of households, families, or occupied housing
units is classified as Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino, the

origin of the householder is used.

If an individual could not provide a Hispanic origin response, their
origin was assigned using

specific rules of precedence of household relationship. For example, if
origin was missing for a

natural-born daughter in the household, then either the origin of the
householder, another

natural-born child, or the spouse of the householder was assigned. If
Hispanic origin was not

reported for anyone in the household, the origin of a householder in a
previously processed

household with the same race was assigned. This procedure is similar to
those used in 1990,

except that for Census 2000, race and Spanish surnames were used to
assist in assigning an

origin.

***Comparability.*** There are two important changes to the Hispanic
origin question for Census

2000\. First, the sequence of the race and Hispanic origin questions for
Census 2000 differs from

that in 1990; in 1990, the race question preceded the Hispanic origin
question. Testing prior to

Census 2000 indicated that response to the Hispanic origin question
could be improved by

placing it before the race question without affecting the response to
the race question. Second,

there is an instruction preceding the Hispanic origin question
indicating that respondents should

answer both the Hispanic origin and the race questions. This instruction
was added to give

emphasis to the distinct concepts of the Hispanic origin and race
questions and to emphasize the

need for both pieces of information.

Furthermore, there has been a change in the processing of the Hispanic
origin and race responses.

In 1990, the Hispanic origin question and the race question had separate
edits; therefore,

although information may have been present on the questionnaire, it was
not fully utilized due to

the discrete nature of the edits. However, for Census 2000, there was a
joint race and Hispanic

origin edit which for example, made use of race responses in the
Hispanic origin question to

impute a race if none was given.

##### EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Data on educational attainment were derived from answers to long-form
questionnaire Item 9,

which was asked of a sample of the population. Data on attainment are
tabulated for the

population 25 years old and over. However, when educational attainment
is cross-tabulated by

other variables, the universe may change. (For example, when educational
attainment is crossed

by disability status, the data are tabulated for the civilian
noninstitutionalized population 18 to 34

years old.) People are classified according to the highest degree or
level of school completed.

The order in which degrees were listed on the questionnaire suggested
that doctorate degrees

were ''higher'' than professional school degrees, which were ''higher''
than master's degrees. The question included instructions for people
currently enrolled in school to report the level of the previous grade
attended or the highest degree received. Respondents who did not report

educational attainment or enrollment level were assigned the attainment
of a person of the same

age, race, Hispanic or Latino origin, occupation and sex, where
possible, who resided in the same

or a nearby area. Respondents who filled more than one box were edited
to the highest level or

degree reported.

The question included a response category that allowed respondents to
report completing the

12th grade without receiving a high school diploma. It allowed people
who received either a high

school diploma or the equivalent, for example, passed the Test of
General Educational

Development (G.E.D.) and did not attend college, to be reported as
''high school graduate(s).'' The category ''Associate degree'' included
people whose highest degree is an associate degree, which generally
requires 2 years of college level work and is either in an occupational
program that prepares them for a specific occupation, or an academic
program primarily in the arts and

sciences. The course work may or may not be transferable to a bachelor's
degree. Master's

degrees include the traditional MA and MS degrees and field-specific
degrees, such as MSW, MEd, MBA, MLS, and MEng. Some examples of
professional degrees include medicine, dentistry, chiropractic,
optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, podiatry, veterinary
medicine, law, and theology. Vocational and technical training, such as
barber school training; business, trade, technical, and vocational
schools; or other training for a specific trade, are specifically
excluded.

##### AGE

The data on age, which was asked of all people, were derived from
answers to the long-form

questionnaire Item 4 and short-form questionnaire Item 6. The age
classification is based on the

age of the person in complete years as of April 1, 2000. The age of the
person usually was

derived from their date of birth information. Their reported age was
used only when date of birth

information was unavailable.

Data on age are used to determine the applicability of some of the
sample questions for a person

and to classify other characteristics in census tabulations. Age data
are needed to interpret most

social and economic characteristics used to plan and examine many
programs and policies.

Therefore, age is tabulated by single years of age and by many different
groupings, such as 5-year

age groups.

##### INCOME IN 1999

The data on income in 1999 were derived from answers to long-form
questionnaire Items 31 and

32, which were asked of a sample of the population 15 years old and
over. ''Total income'' is the

sum of the amounts reported separately for wage or salary income; net
self-employment income;

interest, dividends, or net rental or royalty income or income from
estates and trusts; social

security or railroad retirement income; Supplemental Security Income
(SSI); public assistance or

welfare payments; retirement, survivor, or disability pensions; and all
other income.

''Earnings'' are defined as the sum of wage or salary income and net
income from self-employment. ''Earnings'' represent the amount of income
received regularly for people 16 years old and over before deductions
for personal income taxes, social security, bond purchases, union dues,
medicare deductions, etc.

For more detailed information on these topics and for information on
other Census 2000 topics go to
[www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf](http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf).