In
1977 the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) issued Race and
Ethnicity Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative
Reporting in order to promote comparability of data among Federal data
systems. The 1977 standards called for the Federal Government抯
data systems to classify individuals into the following four racial
groups: American Indian or Alaska
Native, Asian or Pacific
Islander, Black, and White.
Depending on the data source, the classification by
race was based on self-classification or on observation by an
interviewer or other person filling out the questionnaire.
In
1997 new standards were announced for classification of individuals by race within the
Federal Government抯 data systems. The
1997 standards have five racial groups: American Indian or Alaska
Native, Asian, Black or African
American, Native Hawaiian or other
Pacific Islander, and White.
These five categories
are the minimum set for data on race for Federal statistics. The
1997 standards also offer an opportunity for respondents to
select more than one of the five groups, leading to many possible multiple
race categories. As with the single race groups, data for the multiple
race groups are to be reported when estimates meet agency
requirements for reliability and confidentiality. The 1997 standards allow
for observer or proxy identification of race but clearly state a
preference for self-classification. The Federal
government
considers race and Hispanic origin to be two separate and
distinct
concepts. Thus Hispanics may be of any race. Federal data
systems
are required to comply with the 1997 Standards by 2003.
National
Health Interview Survey(NHIS)桾he racecategories 憫White only,拻 憫Black or African American only,拻憫American Indian and Alaska Native only,拻 憫Asian only,拻and 憫Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander only拻include persons who reported only one racial group; thecategory 憫2 or more races拻 includes persons whoreported more than one of the five racial groups in the1997 Standards or one of the five racial groups and憫Some other race.拻 Prior to data year 1999, data weretabulated according to the 1977 Standards with fourracial groups and the category 憫Asian only拻 includedNative Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Estimates forsingle-race categories prior to 1999 included personswho reported one race or, if they reported more thanone race, identified one race as best representing theirrace. Differences between estimates tabulated using thetwo Standards for data year 1999 are discussed in thefootnotes for each NHIS table.
Tables XII
and XIII
illustrate NHIS data
tabulated by raceand Hispanic origin according
to the 1997 and 1977Standards for two health
statistics (cigarette smoking andprivate health
insurance coverage). In these illustrations,
three separate tabulations using the 1997 Standards areshown: 1) Race: mutually exclusive race groups,including several multiple-race combinations; 2) Race,any mention: race groups that are not mutually exclusivebecause each race category includes all persons whomention that race; and 3) Hispanic origin and race:detailed race and Hispanic origin with a multiple-racetotal category. Where applicable, comparison tabulationsby race and Hispanic origin are shown based on the1977 Standards. Because there are more race groupswith the 1997 Standards, the sample size of each racegroup under the 1997 Standards is slightly smaller thanthe sample size under the 1977 Standards. Only thosefew multiple-race groups with sufficient numbers ofobservations to meet standards of statistical reliability areshown. Tables XII
and
XIII also
illustrate changes inlabels and group
categories in the 1997 Standards. Therace
designation of Black was changed to Black or
African American and the ethnicity designation ofHispanic was changed to Hispanic or Latino.
National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES)桺rior to data year 1999, the 1977
Standards were used. Because of the differences
between the two Standards, the race-specific estimatesshown in trend tables based on the NHANES for1999�00 are not strictly comparable with estimates forearlier years. Each trend table based on the NHANESincludes a footnote that discusses differences betweenestimates tabulated using the two Standards for surveyyears 1999�00. Race in NHANES I and II wasdetermined primarily by interviewer observation; startingwith NHANES III, race was self-reported by surveyparticipants.
The NHANES sample was designed to provide estimatesspecifically for persons of Mexican origin and not for allHispanic-origin persons in the United States. Persons ofHispanic origin other than Mexicans were entered intothe sample with different selection probabilities that arenot nationally representative of the total U.S. Hispanicpopulation. Estimates are shown for non-Hispanic white,non-Hispanic black, and Mexican. Although data werecollected according to the 1997 Standards, there areinsufficient numbers of observations to meet statisticalreliability or confidentiality requirements for reportingestimates for additional race categories.
National
Vital Statistics System桵ost of the States inthe Vital Statistics Cooperative Program are still revisingtheir birth and death records to conform to the 1997standards on race and ethnicity. During the transition tofull implementation of the 1997 standards, vital statisticsdata will continue to be presented for the four major racegroups, white, black or African American, AmericanIndian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander, inaccordance with 1977 standards.
Birth
File桰nformation about the race and Hispanic
ethnicity of the mother and father are provided by themother at the time of birth and recorded on the birthcertificate and fetal death record. Since 1980, birth rates,birth characteristics, and fetal death rates for live-borninfants and fetal deaths are presentedaccording to race of mother. Before 1980 data weretabulated by race of newborn and fetus, taking intoaccount the race of both parents. If the parents were ofdifferent races and one parent was white, the child wasclassified according to the race of the other parent.When neither parent was white, the child was classifiedaccording to father抯 race, with one exception: if eitherparent was Hawaiian, the child was classified Hawaiian.Before 1964, if race was unknown, the birth wasclassified as white. Beginning in 1964 unknown race wasclassified according to information on the previous birthrecord.
Mortality
File桰nformation about the race and Hispanic
ethnicity of the decedent is reported by the funeraldirector as provided by an informant, often the survivingnext of kin, or, in the absence of an informant, on thebasis of observation. Death rates by race and Hispanicorigin are based on information from death certificates(numerators of the rates) and on population estimatesfrom the Census Bureau (denominators). Race andethnicity information from the census is by self-report. Tothe extent that race and Hispanic origin are inconsistentbetween these two data sources, death rates will bebiased. Studies have shown that persons self-reportedas American Indian, Asian, or Hispanic on census andsurvey records may sometimes be reported as white ornon-Hispanic on the death certificate, resulting in anunderestimation of deaths and death rates for theAmerican Indian, Asian, and Hispanic groups. Bias alsoresults from undercounts of some population groups inthe census, particularly young black and young whitemales and elderly persons, resulting in an overestimationof death rates. The net effects of misclassification andundercoverage result in overstated death rates for thewhite population and black population estimated to be1 percent and 5 percent, respectively; and understateddeath rates for other population groups estimated asfollows: American Indians, 21 percent; Asian or PacificIslanders, 11 percent; and Hispanics, 2 percent.
Denominators for infant and maternal mortality rates arebased on number of live births rather than populationestimates. Race information for the denominator issupplied from the birth certificate. Before 1980, race ofchild for the denominator took into account the races ofboth parents. Starting in 1980, race information for thedenominator was based solely on race of mother. Raceinformation for the numerator is supplied from the deathcertificate. For the infant mortality rate, race informationfor the numerator is race of the deceased child; for thematernal mortality rate, it is race of the mother.Vital event rates for the American Indian or AlaskaNative population shown in this book are based on thetotal U.S. resident population of American Indians andAlaska Natives, as enumerated by the U.S. Bureau ofCensus. In contrast the Indian Health Service calculatesvital event rates for this population based on U.S.Bureau of Census county data for American Indians andAlaska Natives who reside on or near reservations.Interpretation of trends for the American Indian andAlaska Native population should take into account thatpopulation estimates for these groups increased by45 percent between 1980 and 1990, partly because ofbetter enumeration techniques in the 1990 decennialcensus and the increased tendency for people to identifythemselves as American Indian in 1990.
Interpretation of trends for the Asian population in theUnited States should take into account that thispopulation more than doubled between 1980 and 1990,primarily because of immigration.