Race and Ethnicity - Public Use File Overview

The Race and Ethnicity Supplement was designed to evaluate new panels of questions on race and ethnicity and to compare the results with answers given using the current CPS questions that are routinely collected during the first month, face-to-face interview. The supplement addressed the following specific issues: (1) the effect of having a multiracial category among the list of races; (2) the effect of adding "Hispanic" to the list of racial categories; and (3) the preferences for alternative names for racial and ethnic categories (e.g., African-American for Black and Latino for Hispanic). The supplement was organized into four panels, or versions, representing a two-by-two experimental design for studying issues 1 and 2 above. Questions relating to issue 3 were the same for all panels. This design permits numerous comparisons to estimate the effects of the changes in the questions. Each panel was given to one-fourth of the sample, or about 15,000 households. All respondents in a household received the same set of questions. Household members 15 years old and older were asked to respond for themselves, and parents answered for children too young to answer for themselves. The panels were:

Panel 1: Separate race and Hispanic origin questions, no multiracial category

Panel 2: Separate race and Hispanic origin questions, a multiracial category

Panel 3: A combined race and Hispanic origin question, with a multiracial category

Panel 4: A combined race and Hispanic origin question, with a multiracial category

In panels 1 and 2, the separate Hispanic-origin question was asked before the race question. The racial categories used in all four panels (other than Hispanic and multiracial) were (1) White; (2) Black; (3) American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut; (4) Asian or Pacific Islander. Besides these specific racial categories, respondents were given the opportunity to select "Something Else." Those choosing the multiracial category in panels 2 and 4 were asked to identify their specific races in a follow-up question.

II. May 1995 Race and Ethnicity Supplement Content

In addition to questions about their racial and ethnic identification (see above), respondents were also asked a question to determine their preference for the name of their race or ethnic origin. Multiracial respondents were asked the reasons why they identified as multiracial. Hispanics were asked whether they preferred to identify themselves from a list of races that included Hispanic or through a separate Hispanic origin question. All respondents were asked to specify ancestry in an open-ended question.

III. Data Collection

Census Bureau staff conducted the May 1995 Race and Ethnicity Survey as a supplement to that month's Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly labor force survey conducted in approximately 57,000 interviewed households across the Nation.

Census Bureau staff conducted interviews during the period of May 14-20, 1995. The race and ethnicity items were asked of all household members. The supplement respondent had to be a household member 15 years of age or older. Although a proxy response was acceptable, it was preferable to ask these questions of the individual him/herself. That is, if the sample person was available, and at least 15 years old, the interviewer was to speak to that person directly.

Interviewers received a 2 hour self-study that contained exercises on the basic labor force questions, item-by-item instructions for each panel of the supplement, supplement exercises, and practice interviews.

IV. Data Processing

The data processing for this supplement did not involve any editing. All values on this file are unedited data.

The values and universe for each variable are defined in the supplement record layout found in Attachment 7.

V. May 1995 CPS/Race and Ethnicity Computer File

A. CPS Labor Force Data

The May 1995 Race and Ethnicity computer file does NOT contain all the labor force data from the May 1995 CPS. Only a selected set of demographic information from the basic May CPS and one indicator of labor force status (PEMLR) are included in this file (see Attachment 7 for a complete listing of basic CPS variables included in the file). Users desiring complete CPS labor force data including hours, earnings, occupation, and industry information should consult the May 1995 CPS Data file.

The variable PRPERTYP determines the type of person as follows:

PRPERTYP

1 = Child household member (0-14 years old)

2 = Adult civilian household member (15+ years old)

3 = Adult Armed Forces household member (15+ years old)

The variable HRINTSTA determines the interview status of the household.

HRINTSTA

1 = Interview

2 = Type A Noninterview (These records represent households that were eligible for the May 1995 CPS interview, but were not interviewed because no one was home, household members were temporarily absent, etc.)

3 = Type B Noninterview (These records represent sample addresses determined to be ineligible for the CPS by virtue of being vacant, demolished, nonresidential, etc.)

4 = Type C Noninterview (See explanation for Type B above.)

By combining the values of PRPERTYP (1-3) and HRINTSTA (2-4), the number of records can be determined.

The values of PRPERTYP are:

Unweighted Counts

1 = Child 32,222

2 = Adult Civilian, 15+ 107,085

3 = Adult, Armed Forces 530

The values of HRINTSTA are:

2 = Type A Noninterview 3,776

3 = Type B Noninterview 9,788

4 = Type C Noninterview 416

B. May 1995 Race and Ethnicity Supplement Data

The May supplement data set includes all of the unedited items from the supplement (see Attachment 8B for a listing of all the questionnaire items). The questions asked in each panel of the supplement are given different names, even if there was no change in the wording of the question item in the different panels. Each supplement item begins with the prefix PUS (which stands for Person Unedited Supplement item-see Attachment 6) and then the letter A, B, C, or D which correspond to the panel (1-4) that the question item is from. The supplement data set also includes recoded items from the supplement which begin with the prefix PRS. These recoded items draw their information from the appropriate question or questions asked in each panel and will aid users desiring to make comparisons of asking the same or different questions across the different panels. For example, one recoded race variable contains the result of asking not only a slightly different race question in each panel, but also all of the follow-up questions (asked of respondents who said they were multiracial). To recreate this information from the original questionnaire responses requires a number of different questions from each panel. For more information on recoded items and helpful hints to users see Attachment 7.

C. Tallying the May 1995 Race and Ethnicity Supplement File

The May 1995 supplement universe consists of the full CPS sample, including all children in the household. The only time children were not asked the supplement questions was when none of the adult members of the household were eligible for the labor force questions. As long as one adult household member answered the supplement, the interviewer was instructed to ask the supplement for the entire household.

D. Weighting

The nonresponse rate for the labor force portion of the CPS was 6.5% in May 1995. The nonresponse rate for the Race and Ethnicity supplement was 10.5%. This level of nonresponse is typical of many CPS supplements and did not differ by panel. The data were weighted to compensate for both sources of nonresponse, and this supplement weight (PWSUPWGT) is the only weight included in the supplement data file. This weight does not compensate for the underrepresentation of some racial or ethnic groups in the CPS and the final CPS weight (PWSSWGT), which does make this adjustment, is NOT included. This correction would require weighting to racial and ethnic census counts and using the CPS racial and ethnic origin questions to do so. Using weights adjusted by the CPS racial and ethnic origin questions would distort the effects of the supplement's experimental design. Therefore, racial and ethnic proportions from the supplement must be interpreted within the context of the experiment, where only comparisons among the four panels are intended. The proportions are NOT expected to match exactly official CPS figures.

Attachment 9 is a tally listing of unweighted counts from selected supplement items. Use these totals to ensure that the file is being accessed properly.

F. Data Contact

For questions regarding the May 1995 Race and Ethnicity data, call Scott Fricker on 202-606-7390 or Clyde Tucker on 202-606-7371.

1995 Race and Ethnicity - Public Use File Page

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