Analysis of Multiple Origin Reporting to the Hispanic Origin Question in Census 2000. Population Division Working Paper No. 77

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reporting of multiple origins in the Census 2000 question on Hispanic origin. We begin with a brief discussion of the three classifications of responses to this question (no response, single response, and multiple response). The main focus of this paper will be on multiple origin reporting using unedited and edited data from Census 2000. After a brief discussion of how multiple responses were edited in Census 2000, we will examine the various components of multiple origin reporting. Particular attention will be paid to people who reported combinations of Hispanic and non-Hispanic (Part-Hispanic) and people who reported Multiple Hispanic and multiple non-Hispanic origins. The geographic distribution of multiple origin reporting by type is shown for the total United States as well by Census regions and States. Demographic characteristics of the multiple origin population and the development of a multivariate logistic regression model were used to describe and identify associations among selected demographic variables with multiple origin reporting. Additional background information from respondents who were classified as Part-Hispanic will be further examined using ethnic-related data such as ancestry, place of birth, and language from the Census long form to check for origin reporting consistency or inconsistency. We conclude this working paper with summary of our findings and some recommendations concerning the continued collection on multiple origin reporting.