The data on age were derived from answers to questionnaire item 2, which was asked of all persons. The age classification is based on the age of the person in complete years as of March 4, 1995. The response to month, day, and year-of-birth was used to represent a person's age. However, when this response was unacceptable or unavailable, a person's age was derived from the age as of March 4, 1995 response.
Data on age are used to determine the applicability of other 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.
Limitation of the Data--Counts in 1970 and 1980 for persons 100 years old and over were substantially overstated. Improvements were made in the questionnaire design, in the allocation procedures, and to the respondent instruction guide to attempt to minimize this problem for the 1990 Decennial Census.
Review of detailed 1990 Decennial Census information indicated that respondents tended to provide their age as of the date of completion of the questionnaire, not their age as of April 1, 1990. The question was redesigned for the 1995 Census Test to avoid a repeat of this problem. In addition, there may have been a tendency in 1990 for respondents to round their age up if they were close to having a birthday. It is likely that approximately 10 percent of persons in most age groups are actually 1 year younger. For most single years of age, the misstatements are largely offsetting. The problem is most pronounced at age 0 because persons lost to age 1 may not have been fully offset by the inclusion of babies born after April 1, 1990, and because there may have been more rounding up to age 1 to avoid reporting age as 0 years. (Age in complete months was not collected for infants under age 1.)
The reporting of age 1 year older than age on April 1, 1990, is likely to have been greater in areas where the census data were collected later in 1990. The magnitude of this problem was much less in the three previous censuses where age was typically derived from respondent data on year of birth and quarter of birth. (For more information on the design of the age question, see the section below that discusses "Comparability.")
Comparability--Age data have been collected in every census. In each census since 1940, the age of a person was assigned when it was not reported. In censuses before 1940, with the exception of 1880, persons of unknown age were shown as a separate category. Since 1960, assignment of unknown age has been performed by a general procedure described as "imputation." The specific procedures for imputing age have been different in each census. (For more information on imputation, see Appendix C, Accuracy of the Data.)
The data on Spanish/Hispanic origin were derived from answers to questionnaire item 4, which was asked of all persons. Persons of Hispanic origin are those who classified themselves in one of the specific Hispanic origin categories listed on the questionnaire--"Mexican, Mexican-Am., Chicano;" "Puerto Rican;" or "Cuban"--as well as those who indicated that they were of "other Spanish/Hispanic" origin. Persons of "other Spanish/Hispanic" origin are those whose origins are from Spain, the Spanish-speaking countries of Central or South America, or the Dominican Republic, or they are persons of Hispanic origin identifying themselves generally as Spanish, Spanish-American, Hispanic, Hispano, Latino, and so on. Write-in responses to the "other Spanish/Hispanic" category were coded on both the short and long forms in the 1995 Census Test, but only the write-in responses on the long form were coded in 1990.
Origin can be viewed as the ancestry, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.
During direct interviews conducted by enumerators, if a person could not provide a single origin response, he or she was asked to select, based on self-identification, the group which best described his or her origin or descent. If a person could not provide a single group, the origin of the person's mother was used. If a single group could not be provided for the person's mother, the first origin reported by the person was used.
If any household member failed to respond to the Spanish/Hispanic origin question, a response was assigned by the computer according to the reported entries of other household members by using specific rules of precedence of household relationship. If an origin was not entered for any household member, an origin was assigned from another household according to the race of the householder. This procedure is a variation of the general imputation process described in Appendix C, Accuracy of the Data.
Comparability--There may be differences between the total Hispanic origin population based on 100-percent tabulations in the 1995 Census Test and in the 1990 Decennial Census and sample tabulations from earlier censuses. Such differences are the result of sampling variability, nonsampling error, and more extensive edit procedures for the Spanish/Hispanic origin item on the sample questionnaires in 1990 and 1995. (For more information on sampling variability and nonsampling error, see Appendix C, Accuracy of the Data.)
Hispanic origin data for the 1990 Decennial Census are generally comparable with those from the 1980 Decennial Census. However, there are some differences in the format and sequencing of the Hispanic origin question between the two censuses. For 1990, the word "descent" was deleted from the 1980 wording. In addition, the term "Mexican-Amer." used in 1980 was shortened further to "Mexican-Am." to reduce misreporting (of "American") in this category detected in the 1980 Decennial Census. Also, the 1990 question allowed those who reported as "other Spanish/Hispanic" to write in their specific Hispanic origin group.
Finally, the sequencing of the Hispanic origin question and the race question differed between the 1990 Decennial Census and the 1995 Census Test. In 1990, the Hispanic origin question (item 7) appeared after the race question (item 4). In 1995, the Hispanic origin question (item 4) preceded the race question (item 5).
The data on race were derived from answers to questionnaire item 5, which was asked of all persons. The concept of race as used by the Census Bureau reflects self-identification; it does not denote any clear-cut scientific definition of biological stock. The data for race represent self-classification by people according to the race with which they most closely identify. Furthermore, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include both racial and national origin or socio-cultural groups.
During direct interviews conducted by enumerators, if a person could not provide a single response to the race question, he or she was asked to select, based on self-identification, the group which best described his or her racial identity. If a person could not provide a single race response, the race of the mother was used. If a single race response could not be provided for the person's mother, the first race reported by the person was used. In all cases where occupied housing units, households, or families are classified by race, the race of the householder was used.
The racial classification used by the Census Bureau generally adheres to the guidelines in Federal Statistical Directive No. 15, issued by the Office of Management and Budget, which provides standards on ethnic and racial categories for statistical reporting to be used by all Federal agencies. The racial categories shown below were some of the categories used in the 1990 Decennial Census and the 1995 Census Test data products.
White--Includes persons who indicated their race as "White" or reported entries such as Canadian, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.
Black--Includes persons who indicated their race as "Black, African-Am., or Negro" or reported entries such as Afro-American, Black Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Nigerian, West Indian, or Haitian.
American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut--Includes persons who classified themselves as such in one of the specific race categories identified below.
American Indian--Includes persons 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.Eskimo--Includes persons who indicated their race as "Eskimo" or reported entries such as Arctic Slope, Inupiat, and Yupik.
Aleut--Includes persons who indicated their race as "Aleut" or reported entries such as Alutiiq, Egegik, and Pribilovian.
Asian or Pacific Islander--Includes persons who reported in one of the Asian or Pacific Islander groups listed on the questionnaire or who provided write-in responses such as Thai, Nepali, or Tongan.
Asian--Includes "Chinese," "Filipino," "Japanese," "Asian Indian," "Korean," "Vietnamese," and "Other Asian."Pacific Islander--Includes persons who indicated their race as Pacific Islander by classifying themselves as "Hawaiian," "Samoan," "Guamanian," or "Other Pacific Islander;" or identifying themselves as one of the Pacific Islander culture groups of Polynesian, Micronesian, or Melanesian.
Other Race--Includes all other persons not included in the "White," "Black," "American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut," and the Asian or Pacific Islander" race categories described above. Persons reporting in the "Other race" category and providing write-in entries such as multiracial, multiethnic, mixed, interracial, Wesort, or a Spanish/Hispanic origin group (such as Mexican, Cuban, or Puerto Rican) are included here.
Write-in entries to three categories on the race item--"Indian (Amer.)," "Other Asian or Pacific Islander," and "Other race"--were reviewed, edited, and coded by subject-matter specialists. (For more information on the coding operation, see the section below that discusses "Comparability.")
The write-in entries under "Indian (Amer.)," "Other Asian or Pacific Islander," and "Some other race" were reviewed and coded on both the short and long forms in the 1995 Census Test. This is similar to the approach used in the 1990 Decennial Census, but all 100-percent write-in entries were coded in 1995.
If the race entry for a member of a household was missing on the questionnaire, race was assigned based upon the reported entries of race by other household members using specific rules of precedence of household relationship. For example, if race was missing for the daughter of the householder, then the race of her mother (as female householder or female spouse) would be assigned. If there was no female householder or spouse in the household, the daughter would be assigned her father's (male householder) race. If race was not reported for anyone in the household, the race of a householder in a previously processed household was assigned. This procedure is a variation of the general imputation procedures described in Appendix C, Accuracy of the Data.
Limitation of the Data--In the 1990 Decennial Census, respondents sometimes did not fill in a circle or filled the "Other race" circle and wrote in a response, such as Arab, Polish, or African American in the shared write-in box for "Other race" and "Other API" responses. During the automated coding process, these responses were edited and assigned to the appropriate racial designation. Also, some Hispanic origin persons did not fill in a circle, but provided entries such as Mexican or Puerto Rican. These persons were classified in the "Other race" category during the coding and editing process.
Comparability--The sequencing of the race and Hispanic origin questions differed between the 1990 Decennial Census and the 1995 Census Test. In 1990, the race question (item 4) preceded the Hispanic origin question (item 7). In 1995, the race question followed directly after the Hispanic origin question.
Differences between the 1990 Decennial Census and earlier censuses affect the comparability of data for certain racial groups and American Indian tribes. The 1990 census was the first census to undertake, on a 100-percent basis, an automated review, edit, and coding operation for write-in responses to the race item. The automated coding system used in the 1990 census greatly reduced the potential for error associated with a clerical review. Specialists with a thorough knowledge of the race subject matter reviewed, edited, coded, and resolved inconsistent or incomplete responses. In the 1980 Decennial Census, there was only a limited clerical review of the race responses on the 100-percent forms with a full clerical review conducted only on the sample questionnaires.
Another major difference between the 1990 and preceding censuses is the handling of the write-in responses for the Asian or Pacific Islander populations. In addition to the nine Asian or Pacific Islander categories shown on the questionnaire under the spanner "Asian or Pacific Islander (API)," the 1990 census race item provided a new residual category, "Other API," for Asian or Pacific Islander persons who did not report in one of the listed Asian or Pacific Islander groups. During the coding operation, write-in responses for "Other API" were reviewed, coded, and assigned to the appropriate classification. For example, in 1990, a write-in entry of Laotian, Thai, or Javanese is classified as "Other Asian," while a write-in entry of Tongan or Fijian is classified as "Other Pacific Islander." In the 1990 census, these persons were able to identify as "Other API" in both the 100-percent and sample operations.
In the 1980 Decennial Census, the nine Asian or Pacific Islander groups were also listed separately. However, persons not belonging to these nine groups wrote in their specific racial group under the "Other" race category. Persons with a write-in entry such as Laotian, Thai, or Tongan, were tabulated and published as "Other race" in the 100-percent processing operation in 1980, but were reclassified as "Other Asian or Pacific Islander" in 1980 sample tabulations. In 1980 special reports on the Asian or Pacific Islander populations, data were shown separately for "Other Asian" and "Other Pacific Islander."
Another difference between 1990 and preceding censuses is the approach taken when persons of Spanish/Hispanic origin did not report in a specific race category but reported as "Other race" or "Other." These persons commonly provided a write-in entry such as Mexican, Venezuelan, or Latino. In the 1990 and 1980 censuses, these entries remained in the "Other race" or "Other" category, respectively. In the 1970 census, most of these persons were included in the "White" category.
