U.S. Census Bureau

Technical Briefing

(August 8, 2012)

Results from the 2010 Cens

Race and Hispanic Origin

Alternative Questionnaire Expe
Overview of Technical Brie

• (AQE) Goals and Research Strategies• Methodology• Race and Hispanic Origin Questionnair• Reinterview Study• Focus Groups• 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

• Increase reporting in the standard O

Management and Budget (OMB) racethnic categories

• Lower item nonresponse to the race 

Hispanic origin questions

• Improve the accuracy and reliability 

race and ethnic data

• Elicit the reporting of detailed race a

ethnic groups
2010 AQE Methodolog

• Three-part design:

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

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

(about 30,000 housing units per pan(about 500,000 households)

• Design focuses on oversampling of v

race and ethnic groups in mail surve
Experimental

Questionnaire Panels
2010 Census - Control Pa
Design 

Strategy 1
• Modify examples

Design 

Strategy 1
• Modify examples

• Remove the term

“Negro”

Design 

Strategy 1
• Modify examples

• Remove the term

“Negro”

• Allow reporting of

multiple responsesto the Hispanicorigin question

Design 

Strategy 1
Design 

Strategy 2
• Clarify the Asian

checkbox categories

• Clarify the Pacific

Islander checkboxcategories

Design 

Strategy 2
• Clarify the Asian

checkbox categories

• Clarify the Pacific

Islander checkboxcategories

• Limit the use of 

the term “race”

Design 

Strategy 2
Design Strategy 3

Combine the race and Hispanic origin que

• Detailed approach• Streamlined approach• Very Streamlined approach• Alternative Control
Detailed 

Approach
• Includes examples and 

write-ins for all OMB race and Hispanic origin categories

• Maintains all original 

race and Hispanic origin checkboxes

Detailed 

Approach
Streamlined 

Approach
Streamlined 

Approach

• Includes examples and

write-ins for all OMB 

race and Hispanicorigin categories

• Removes specific

national origin checkboxes; presented as example groups

• Streamlined

presentation of OMBrace and Hispanic origincategories
Very 

Streamlined 

Approach
Very 

Streamlined 

Approach

• Part 1 - Very streamlined 

presentation of OMB raceand Hispanic origincategories

• Part 2 - Examples for all

OMB race and Hispanicorigin categories

• Write-in areas for specific

race(s), origin(s), or tribe(s)
Alternative 

Control 

Approach
• Serves as an

alternative control forthe combined raceand Hispanic origindesign approach

• Maintains 2010 Census 

race and Hispanic origin questions’ write-in areas and checkboxes, but in a combined, single question format

Alternative 

Control 

Approach
AQE Reinterview Stud

• One-in-five housing units from the 20

mail survey were selected for a reintestudy

• Assess the relative accuracy of the 

experimental 2010 AQE race and Hisorigin 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 
Group Community

White Middle Eastern/North African; Iranian;

European/North American

Black or African American

African American; African; Afro-Caribbean

American Indian and Alaska Native

American Indian (on and off reservation);Alaska Native; Indigenous Central and South 

Asian Detailed Asian groupsNative Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

Native Hawaiian; Detailed Pacific Islander gro

Hispanic English speaking; Spanish speaking;

Detailed Hispanic groups

Multiracial Parents of multiracial children; multiracial aduAncestry differs from place of birth

Examples: Asian Indians from Trinidad;Chinese from Jamaica

AQE Focus Groups
Major Findings
Item Nonresponse

• Separate question format

RACE 3.5 percent to 5.7 pHISPANIC 4.1 percent to 5.4 p

• Combined question format 

COMBINED 0.6 percent to 1.2 p

30
Race Findings

• Some Other Race decreased in the 

combined question
Race Findings
Race Findings

• “White” dropped to levels reflecting th

“Non-Hispanic White” population

• Largely due to Hispanics choosing the

identity (i.e., only “Hispanic”) in the 

combined question format
Race Findings
Race Findings

• Two or More Responses population w

larger on combined question

• Distributions similar across panels for 

groups (AIAN, Asian, NHPI)
Race Findings
Race Findings

• Removal of the term “Negro” did not r

proportion of respondents reporting as “Black”
Race Findings
Hispanic Findings

• Overall Hispanic reporting was abou

14 percent of the total population, wno statistical differences across pan
Hispanic Findings
Hispanic Findings

• Distributions of detailed Hispanic ori

groups were generally similar across panels
Hispanic Findings
Hispanic Findings

• Multiple Hispanic reporting consisten

regardless of instruction to “Mark onmore”
Hispanic Findings
Hispanic Findings

• Combined questions showed higher 

percentage of general Hispanic writeand checkbox-only responses
Hispanic Findings
Detailed Group Finding

• Increased detailed reporting for Whitgroups and Black groups when providwith dedicated write-in lines
Detailed Group Finding
Detailed Group Finding

• Decrease in specific Hispanic reporti

the combined questions

• However, the total Hispanic proportio

remain consistent across panels
Detailed Group Finding
Detailed Group Finding

• Decrease in specific Asian reporting detailed checkboxes are not present in combined question• However, the total Asian proportions remain consistent across panels
Detailed Group Finding
Reinterview Findings

• Consistency - percent of reinterview res

matching mail questionnaire responses

• Consistency was above 84 percent over

all panels

• Gross difference rate (GDR) - proxy for • Combined question panels had lower G

White responses and Black responses
Reinterview Findings

• Net difference rates (NDR) – measures 

difference between number reported annumber in group (measure of accuracy)

• Combined question panels had lower N

White responses

• Combined questions appear to yield a c

representation of self-identification
Focus Group Findings

• Prefer fair and equitable treatment of all • Many Hispanics saw the race question 

instructions as preventing self-identificat

• Separate category for “Middle Eastern, 

African, Arab”
Focus Group Findings

• Use of the term “Negro” offensive and o• Lack of agreement on definitions of “rac

“origin”

• Combined question approach presents e
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, Puert

Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and so 

 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
Discussion

and 

Questions