{"id":24858,"date":"2012-04-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2012\/04\/16\/ask-the-expert-classifying-race-and-ethnicity\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:51:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:51:48","slug":"ask-the-expert-classifying-race-and-ethnicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2012\/04\/16\/ask-the-expert-classifying-race-and-ethnicity\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the Expert: Classifying Race and Ethnicity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q. Your surveys often show results\u00a0based on “non-Hispanic whites” and “non-Hispanic blacks”.\u00a0 Why aren’t Hispanics counted in these\u00a0categories?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A. In today’smulti-ethnic society, classifying people into racial and ethnic categories is\u00a0increasingly difficult, yet remains an important aspect of understanding the\u00a0diversity of views and values across segments of the public. Pew Research\u00a0Center surveys assign people into racial and ethnic categories based on what\u00a0people tell us about themselves. Most Pew Research studies use categories for\u00a0race and ethnicity similar to those used by government agencies, including the\u00a0Census Bureau, where Hispanics can be of any racial background and their\u00a0numbers are reported separately from non-Hispanics for each race group.<\/p>\n\n

The standard\u00a0federal categories for race and ethnicity are defined by the U.S. Office of\u00a0Management and Budget (OMB) and are employed not just for surveys, but also for\u00a0medical research, school registration forms, mortgage lending applications and\u00a0other administrative uses. These categories also are widely used by researchers\u00a0and businesses in order to be consistent with federal standards.<\/p>\n\n

The latest OMB standards, <\/a>issued in 1997, require that data be collected and reported for five major\u00a0race groups: American Indian or Alaska Native,\u00a0Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander,\u00a0and White. The Census Bureau also reports data about people who are not\u00a0included in those categories but are “some other race” and those who are mixed\u00a0race-that is, included in more than one race group.<\/p>\n\n

In addition, data are collected in a separate question asking\u00a0whether someone is “Hispanic” or “Latino”; Hispanics or Latinos are an ethnic\u00a0group based on family background or ancestral\u00a0ties. Hispanics or Latinos may be of any race, and are asked the same race\u00a0question as everyone else.<\/p>\n\n

Although the\u00a0races are defined as having origins in particular<\/a>\u00a0parts of the world,in reality race and Hispanic origin are self-defined. Census\u00a0forms and other surveys allow people to choose their own race, and include\u00a0themselves in more than one racial group. As explained by OMB, “The categories represent a social-political construct designed for collecting data on the race and\u00a0ethnicity of broad population groups in this country, and are not\u00a0anthropologically or scientifically based.”<\/p>\n\n

In practice, the standard labels on the census form do not match the self-descriptions of many Hispanics. According to a recent Pew Hispanic Center report, “When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity<\/a>,” about half of Hispanics (51%) most often identify themselves by their family’s country of origin, compared with 24% who prefer “Hispanic” or “Latino.” Similarly, about half of Hispanics say they are “some other race” (26%) or volunteer “Hispanic” or “Latino” (25%) when asked how they would describe their race.<\/p>\n\n

Occasionally, you will see survey reports that show results only for non-Hispanic whites and\/or non-Hispanic blacks but not Hispanics. That is not because Hispanic attitudes are not important, but we only report on Hispanics when the survey was conducted in Spanish and English and when enough interviews were conducted with Hispanics to report on their views accurately and reliably.<\/p>\n\n

See other recent Ask the Expert questions and answers:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n