 Establishing the Denominator: The Challenges of Measuring Multiracial, Hispanic, and Native American PopulationsWendy D. Roth The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2018, vol. 677, issue 1, 48-56 Abstract: For multiracial, Hispanic, and Native Americans, norms for racial and ethnic self-identification are less well established than they are for other population groups. There is considerable variation and fluidity in how multiracial, Hispanic, and Native Americans self-identify, as well as how they are classified by others. This presents challenges to researchers and analysts in terms of consistently and accurately estimating the size and population dynamics of these groups. I argue that for analytic purposes, racial/ethnic self-identification should continue to be treated as a statistical numerator, but that the challenge is for researchers to establish the correct denominator—the population that could identify as members of the group based on their ancestry. Examining how many people who could identify with these groups choose to do so sheds light on assimilation and emerging racial classification processes. Analyses of the larger potential populations further avoid bias stemming from nonrandom patterns of self-identification with the groups. Keywords: race; ethnicity; measurement; mixed race; identity; census; statistics (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:677:y:2018:i:1:p:48-56 Access Statistics for this article More articles in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |
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