Issues for Comment: With this Notice, OMB is seeking comments from the public on: (1) The adequacy of the current standard in the areas identified for focused review (see detailed descriptions below); (2) specific suggestions for the identified areas that have been offered; and (3) principles that should govern any proposed revisions to the standards in the identified areas.
Question Format & Nonresponse: Although many respondents report within the race and ethnicity categories specified by the standard, recent censuses, surveys, and experimental tests have shown that its implementation is not well understood and/or is considered inadequate by some respondents. This results in respondents' inability and/or unwillingness to self-identify as the standard intends.
For a growing segment of respondents, this situation arises because of the conceptual complexity that is rooted in the standard's definitional distinction of race from ethnicity. Nearly half of Hispanic or Latino respondents do not identify within any of the standard's race categories (Rios et al. 2014; see https://www.census.gov/populat...wps0102/twps0102.pdf). With the projected steady growth of the Hispanic or Latino population, the number of people who do not identify with any of the standard's race categories is expected to increase (Compton et al. 2012; see https://www.census.gov/2010cen...sus_Race_HO_AQE.pdf; Rios et al. 2014). Additionally, although the reporting of multiple races is permitted according to the current standard, reporting multiple Hispanic origins or a mixed Hispanic/non-Hispanic heritage in the current Hispanic ethnicity question is not permitted. (Please note: The terms `Hispanic or Latino” and “Hispanic” are used interchangeably in this Notice.)
To explore this issue further, the U.S. Census Bureau conducted the 2010 Census Race and Hispanic Origin Alternative Questionnaire Experiment (AQE). Among its most notable findings was that a combined question design (rather than the current standard of separate questions) yielded a substantially increased use of OMB standard categories among Hispanic or Latino respondents, signaling that a combined question approach may better reflect how Hispanic or Latino respondents view themselves (see https://www.census.gov/2010cen...nsus_Race_HO_AQE.pdf). Qualitative aspects of this research further supported this interpretation. The Federal Interagency Working Group for Research on Race and Ethnicity continues to examine this proposal. If a combined measure were to be used outside of a limited, methodological experiment, it would be necessary for OMB to revise the current standard.
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