Results from the 2010 Cens

Race and Hispanic Origin

Alternative Questionnaire Expe

U.S. Census Bureau

Press Conference

(August 8, 2012)
Overview of Presentation T

• Goals and Research Strategies• Methodology• Major Findings• Recommendations
What is the AQE?

The 2010 Census Race and Hispanic Alternative Questionnaire Experiment focused on improving the race and Horigin questions by testing a number odifferent questionnaire design strateg
What is the AQE?
Goals and Research Strate
Goals and Research Strate

• Increase reporting in the standard U

Office of Management and Budget (race and ethnic categories

RACE CATEGORIES

White; Black; American Indian and Alaska 

Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific 

ETHNIC CATEGORIES

Hispanic or Latino;

Not Hispanic or Latino
Goals and Research Strate

• Lower item nonresponse to the race 

Hispanic origin questions
Goals and Research Strate

• Improve the accuracy and reliability 

race and ethnic data
Goals and Research Strate

• Elicit the reporting of detailed race a

ethnic groups

WHITE: German; Irish; LebaneseBLACK: African American; Haitian; NigeAIAN: Navajo; Aleut; MayanASIAN: Chinese; Korean; VietnameseNHPI: Fijian; Native Hawaiian; SamoanHISPANIC: Mexican; Puerto Rican; Cub
Methodology
2010 AQE Methodolog

• Three-part design:

- mail survey- reinterview study - focus groups
AQE Mail Survey

• 15 experimental questionnaire pane• 2 control questionnaire panels• Mailed to national sample of housing 

- about 30,000 per panel- about 500,000 total

• Design focuses on oversampling of v

race and ethnic groups in mail surve
AQE Reinterview Stud

• One-in-five housing units from the 20

AQE mail survey were selected for a reinterview study

• Assess the relative accuracy of the 2

AQE race and Hispanic origin questionnaires

• Probe more extensively into the racia

ethnic background of respondents
AQE Focus Groups

• Supplement 2010 AQE quantitative rese• Understand self-identification of race an

Hispanic origin and fit of responses withOMB categories

• Identify issues respondents have with 

experimental questionnaires; reasons beissues

• Help refine questionnaires for future tes• Understand how and why people identi

race and ethnicity in different ways and 
Separate 

Questions
Combined 

Approach
Design Strategies

Separate questions Combined ap
Major Findings
Item Nonresponse

• Separate question format

RACE 3.5 percent to 5.7 pHISPANIC 4.1 percent to 5.4 p

19

• Combined question format

COMBINED 0.6 percent to 1.2 p
Race and Hispanic Findi

Largely due to Hispanics choosing theidentity (i.e., only “Hispanic”) in the coquestion format• “Some Other Race” substantially red• “White” dropped to levels reflecting t

“Non-Hispanic White” population
Race and Hispanic Findi

• Two or More Responses population 

was larger on combined question 

• Distributions similar across panels fo

other groups (AIAN, Asian, NHPI)

• Removal of the term “Negro” did not 

reduce proportion of respondents reporting as “Black”
Race and Hispanic Findi

• Hispanic proportions were similar ac

panels

• Combined question approach did no

reduce Hispanic proportions

• Multiple Hispanic reporting consisten

regardless of instruction to “Mark onmore” responses
Detailed Group Finding

• No differences in detailed reporting between separate question forms• Increased detailed reporting for Whitgroups and Black groups when providwith dedicated write-in lines
Detailed Group Finding

• Decrease in specific Hispanic origin reporting for the combined question, especially for those where detailed checkboxes are not present• Decrease in specific Asian reporting detailed checkboxes are not present in combined question
Reinterview Findings

• High consistency for all panels, espec

the combined questions

• Estimated reliability and accuracy

- combined questions higher for Wresponses compared to separate

• Combined questions appear to yield a 

closer representation of self-identifica
Focus Group Findings

• Prefer fair and equitable treatment of all • Combined question approach presents e• Many Hispanics saw the race question 

instructions as preventing self-identificat

• Separate category for “Middle Eastern, 

African, Arab”

• Use of the term “Negro” offensive and o
Recommendations
Recommendations

• Further test combined race and Hispanic origin question refinements, paying special attention to research in improving detailed Asian and detailed Hispanic reporting
Recommendations

• Continue researching the optimal use of 

examples for each race and origin respocategory

 HISPANIC OR LATINO (for example, Mexican, Puerto R

Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and so on

 ASIAN (for example, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, 

Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and so on)
Recommendations

• If Hispanic origin question is kept separa

allow multiple responses by explicitly inc“Mark one or more” instruction
Recommendations

• Remove term “Negro” from the “Blac

African Am., or Negro” response cat
Questions?