{"id":42114,"date":"2010-03-03T16:56:47","date_gmt":"2010-03-03T21:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2010\/03\/03\/census-history-counting-hispanics-2\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:10:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:10:02","slug":"census-history-counting-hispanics-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2010\/03\/03\/census-history-counting-hispanics-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Census History: Counting Hispanics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the long history of Hispanic residents in the United States, there was no systematic effort to count this group separately in the Census until the late 20<sup>th<\/sup> century. An analysis of changes in Census question wording over recent decades reveals the challenges in trying to count and describe this fast-growing population.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An estimated 48 million Hispanics are now living in the U.S., or almost 16% of the population. Hispanics are the nation\u2019s largest minority group, having surpassed African Americans in number in 2001. The growth of the Hispanic population this century is due mainly to births in the United States, not immigration from abroad, a reversal of the pattern over the previous four decades.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was a one-time inclusion of a \u201cMexican\u201d race category in the 1930 Census, when forms were filled out by census-takers who went door to door. The first major attempt to estimate the size of the Hispanic population for the entire nation was in the 1970 Census, in which forms were completed by residents themselves. The question appeared on one of the two long-form questionnaires sent to a sample of the population, not the short form that everybody answered.\u00a0The question asked: \u201cIs this person\u2019s origin or descent\u2014\u201c and the response categories were: \u201cMexican,\u00a0 Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, Other Spanish,\u201d and \u201cNo, none of these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This question did not work very well.\u00a0 The total count of 9.1 million reported in that census was about 500,000 less than other estimates for the Hispanic population. (See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.census.gov\/population\/www\/documentation\/twps0056\/twps0056.html\">this page on the Census Bureau website<\/a> for data and more history)\u00a0 Further, even this 9.1 million count was about 1 million higher than responses to the question by people of Hispanic origin. According to later research, a major problem was that hundreds of thousands of people living in the south or central regions of the U.S. mistakenly were included in the \u00a0\u201cCentral or South American\u201d category.\u00a0 As is its usual policy, Census reports on the Hispanic population in 1970 use the originally reported figures.<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hispanic Question on the Short Form<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1980, the question was moved to the short form that went to all households, and specified that it pertained to Hispanics: \u201cIs this person of Spanish\/Hispanic origin or descent?\u201d\u00a0 The possible responses were:\u00a0\u201cNo (not Spanish\/Hispanic); Yes, Mexican, Mexican-Amer., Chicano; Yes, Puerto Rican; Yes, Cuban; Yes, other Spanish\/Hispanic.\u201d\u00a0 The Hispanic origin question followed the race, age, and marital status questions. \u00a0(The previously problematic \u201cCentral or South American\u201d category did not appear.)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This question counted 14.6 million Hispanics and worked reasonably well.\u00a0 A few hundred thousand non-Hispanics apparently misinterpreted the question and attempted to identify as \u201cAmerican\u201d by marking the \u201cYes, Mexican, Mexican-Amer., Chicano\u201d category.\u00a0 Many actually circled the abbreviation \u201cAmer.\u201d to so indicate on the form.\u00a0 There also were several hundred thousand people whose place of birth, language, origin or descent suggested that they were Hispanic but who failed to indicate that they were of Hispanic origin.\u00a0(This and other apparent errors were documented by researchers after the census was completed; as has generally been the case with decennial censuses, the uncorrected numbers appear in official census reports.)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1990, the Hispanic-origin question was virtually identical to the 1980 question and counted more than 22 million Hispanics.\u00a0This census form included a new write-in line to specify a group for \u201cother Spanish\/Hispanic\u201d origins.\u00a0 The form also shortened the category name \u201cMexican-Amer.\u201d to \u201cMexican-Am.,\u201d which helped to eliminate the problem of a decade earlier in which respondents tried to identify as \u201cAmerican\u201d by circling \u201cMexican-Am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2000 Census, which counted more than 35 million Hispanics, saw some significant changes in the Hispanic origin item.\u00a0 The term \u201cLatino\u201d was added, so the question read, \u201cIs this person \u00a0Spanish\/Hispanic\/Latino?\u201d\u00a0 There were major changes in instructions to respondents and question placement.\u00a0 The Hispanic-origin question preceded the race question, rather than following it, and respondents were instructed to answer both questions. \u00a0Immediately after the question was the instruction to \u201cMark the <strong><em>\u201cNo\u201d<\/em><\/strong> box if <strong><em>not<\/em> <\/strong>Spanish\/Hispanic\/Latino.\u201d\u00a0 The Mexican category remained the same but both the \u201cNo\u201d and \u201cother\u201d categories added the term \u201cLatino.\u201d The examples given in 1990 for the \u201cother Spanish\/Hispanic\/Latino\u201d category were eliminated.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A major purpose of the new placement and instructions was to persuade Hispanic respondents to specify a category in response to the race question and not mark \u201csome other race\u201d with a Hispanic write-in (e.g. \u201cMexican\u201d race).\u00a0 This attempt was largely unsuccessful, as about 43% of Hispanics did not specify a race. Moreover, a new issue arose: The proportion of Hispanics who specified that they were some \u201cother\u201d Hispanic origin, without specifying a country, was much higher than in other surveys and sources.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the 2005-2007 American Community Survey (ACS), the Hispanic origin question was identical to the one in the 2000 Census.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Changes for the 2010 Census<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The question that is being used in the 2010 Census (and in the American Community Survey, beginning in 2008) had two changes in wording. The order of the terms is different (\u201cSpanish\u201d is the third option, not the first) and the word \u201corigin\u201d has been added.\u00a0 The question asks whether the person is \u201cof Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.\u201d\u00a0 The wording of response categories has been changed to reflect the question wording. The last response category also has been reworded to say: \u201cYes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin,\u201d and a list of examples is provided (\u201cArgentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard and so on\u201d) in an attempt to elicit a specific response.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the lead-in, respondents are instructed to answer both the Hispanic origin and race items (with the items named, not just numbered as they had been in 2000).\u00a0The instruction specifically says that \u201cHispanic origins are not races.\u201d\u00a0 Additionally, the instruction to \u201cMark No if not Hispanic\u201d was eliminated.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These changes apparently had a significant impact on responses in the 2008 ACS, so it seems likely that 2010 Census responses also will be affected.\u00a0 The share of Hispanics who gave a specific race, rather than marking \u201csome other race,\u201d dropped by about 10 percentage points.\u00a0 The pattern of \u201cother\u201d Hispanic responses changed markedly.\u00a0 The new question wording also may have induced more U.S. natives to identify as Hispanic than had been the case in earlier years of the American Community Survey.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the long history of Hispanic residents in the United States, there was no systematic effort to count this group separately in the Census until the late 20th 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