Data impacts of changes in U.S. Census Bureau procedures for race and ethnicity data

IF 3.6 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Ssm-Population Health Pub Date : 2025-01-09 DOI:10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101742

Elizabeth Arias , Carolyn A. Liebler , Marc A. Garcia , Rogelio Sáenz

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Beginning with the 2020 decennial census and the 2020 American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau implemented changes in question design, data processing, and coding procedures for the race and ethnicity data they collect that appear to have resulted in major data discontinuity. However, the Census Bureau has not released nor plans to release research showing the impact of these changes. We explore the impact of the Census Bureau's procedural changes on the racial and ethnic distributions of the Hispanic (generally and by country of origin) and the American Indian and Alaska Native populations, the two populations most impacted by these changes. We use the 2019 and 2021 one-year ACS public-use microdata and 2019 and 2021 NCHS mortality data to compare racial distributions and estimate and compare select demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and mortality measures across the two years. Our results show that changes the Census Bureau implemented beginning with the 2020 decennial census and ACS appear to have had a significant impact on the comparability of Census Bureau race and ethnicity data. We find a significant data discontinuity impacting a wide variety of demographic, socioeconomic, and mortality statistics and analyses that rely on U.S. Census Bureau data as input for calculations. To mitigate these effects, methods that bridge race and ethnicity data between pre- and post-2020 census data are needed. Our research brings new attention and clarity to the race and ethnicity data discontinuity in Census Bureau data that started in 2020.

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来源期刊

Ssm-Population Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

2.10%

发文量

298

审稿时长

101 days

期刊介绍： SSM - Population Health. The new online only, open access, peer reviewed journal in all areas relating Social Science research to population health. SSM - Population Health shares the same Editors-in Chief and general approach to manuscripts as its sister journal, Social Science & Medicine. The journal takes a broad approach to the field especially welcoming interdisciplinary papers from across the Social Sciences and allied areas. SSM - Population Health offers an alternative outlet for work which might not be considered, or is classed as ''out of scope'' elsewhere, and prioritizes fast peer review and publication to the benefit of authors and readers. The journal welcomes all types of paper from traditional primary research articles, replication studies, short communications, methodological studies, instrument validation, opinion pieces, literature reviews, etc. SSM - Population Health also offers the opportunity to publish special issues or sections to reflect current interest and research in topical or developing areas. The journal fully supports authors wanting to present their research in an innovative fashion though the use of multimedia formats.