Maintaining quality of data in the U.S. Census
by Terry Ao Minnis
The Census Bureau has been testing potential new ways to ask a respondent’s race and ethnicity, including options that remove the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) subgroup check boxes currently on the form. Thus far, the results suggest that some changes being considered, such as the check box removal, would result in decreased detail in race reporting among Asian Americans and NHPIs. As results of the 2015 National Content Test will help guide the Census Bureau’s decision-making, and represents the last major testing opportunity before decisions must be made, it is critical that all steps are taken to address the consistent decrease in detailed race reporting among Asian Americans and NHPIs seen across different tests.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, along with 24 groups and 28 academics and leaders, proposed written comments on the information collection for the 2015 National Content Test, outlining concerns and issues of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. In particular, the comments outline concerns with the race and ethnicity testing as well as ways to address these concerns. The comments also include proposals for coverage content, optimizing self-response, and language assistance as ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected.
Any data collected in a future census must meet the standard already achieved in 2010. This is a minimum or floor, with the hopes that future efforts can build on this foundation. Without accurate data by detailed subgroup, the diversity in the Asian American and NHPI communities means some of the most disadvantaged in our communities are rendered invisible to policy makers, leaving their critical needs unmet.
In reviewing proposed research panels, we observed that the proposed formats decreased both the number of separate check boxes and listings of examples for Asian American and NHPI race groups compared to Census 2010 — practices that have been demonstrated by research to be both ineffective and a threat to accuracy. This decrease in data quality must be addressed. We cannot go backwards in terms of the quality of detailed data collected on Asian American and NHPI groups.
For further reading:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC Comments for 2015 National Content Test
