Census Bureau Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Updates to the Census Bureau’s Race/Ethnicity Code List
Today the U.S. Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice (FRN) asking for public comment on proposed updates to its race/ethnicity code list as part of the Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The updated code list will be used when the combined race/ethnicity question is implemented in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. This effort is designed to ensure that detailed race/ethnicity responses are accurately coded and tabulated in future data releases.
Coding is the process of assigning a numeric code to each response to the race/ethnicity question. The race/ethnicity code list shows how detailed responses to the race/ethnicity questions are coded and classified, which informs how data are tabulated in ACS and decennial census data products.
The Census Bureau classifies and tabulates race/ethnicity data following standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15), which were updated earlier this year. The Census Bureau is only seeking feedback on how race/ethnicity groups and American Indian or Alaska Native tribes and villages will be internally coded.
Written by: Alli Coritz, Senior Analyst, Racial Statistics Branch, Population Division and Rachel Marks, Senior Advisor on Race/Ethnicity, Population Division
The U.S. Census Bureau is conducting its Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project and is currently seeking public feedback through a Federal Register Notice (FRN) on how detailed race/ethnicity and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) populations will be coded in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census. The way in which detailed race/ethnicity responses are coded connects directly to how published estimates and counts are tabulated for the ACS and the decennial census. The Census Bureau classifies and tabulates race/ethnicity data following the standards set by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15), which was updated earlier this year.
Public feedback on the code list is essential to making sure future data on race/ethnicity groups accurately reflect our nation’s diverse population. Comments to the FRN will inform how detailed write-in responses to the new combined race/ethnicity question will be processed and published in data products. The Census Bureau will consider all feedback provided in response to the FRN, but all updates to the code list must also be supported by strong Federal scientific research and evidence and align with the definitions of the minimum race/ethnicity reporting categories in the updated SPD 15.
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