Exploring the Consistency of Race Reporting in Census 2000 and the Census Quality Survey

Claudette Bennett, U.S. Census Bureau
Jorge del Pinal, U.S. Census Bureau
Art Cresce, U.S. Census Bureau

Census 2000 allowed people to report more than one race, meaning data on race collected in Census 2000 are no longer comparable with previous data collection efforts. The Census Bureau conducted a survey of about 60,000 households to create a dataset that could be used to develop race bridging parameters. We examine consistency of race reporting between this survey and Census 2000 to identify the extent to which people who reported more than one race will report a single race or vice versa. We analyze the differences in race reporting across several geographic and demographic variables.