Reporting of Race Among Hispanics: Analysis of ACS Data

• Published in: The Frontiers of Applied Demography pp. 169 - 191
• Main Author: Hogan, Howard
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2017
• Series: Applied Demography Series
• Subjects: American community survey; Hispnic origin; Race
• ISBN: 331943327X; 9783319433271
• ISSN: 2352-376X; 2352-3778
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-43329-5_9

The Census Bureau collects information concerning race and Hispanic origin using two separate questions. Hispanics may report any race or combination of races. The majority select a specific race, however a substantial minority report a nationality, a group or a general category as their “race.” Many researchers choose to ignore the reported race among Hispanics, treating Hispanic origin as a category equivalent to race, the justification often being that “race is not a meaningful concepts among Hispanics.” This paper examines the reporting of race among Hispanics. It looks at how reported race relates to specific Hispanic origin, nativity and other predictors. It analyzes whether including race adds additional power to explain social outcomes among Hispanics. It also looks at two small but significant groups. One groups is Hispanics who report both a specific race and an additional response. The other group is Black Hispanics. The analysis is based on the 2008–2012 “Five Year” American Community Survey files. By examining race within national group, it allows a better understanding of the separate contribution of race to social analysis. It shows that race is a meaningful variable, but interpretation may be complex.