Every time the census is conducted big questions arise about the questions about race, family relationships, and gender. In some ways the options we are given in the census define who we are willing to acknowledge in this country and how we are willing to see those people. This is why the binary gender question is so offensive and why the question about race and Hispanic origin could use more though for the next census.
The 2010 census has 10 questions. Let's take a look at them and a look at some ideas on how to improve these questions.
- How many people were living in your house, apartment or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
- Were there any additional people staying in your house, apartment or mobile home on April 1, 2010 that you did not include in question 1?
- Is your house, apartment or mobile home -- (Mark ONE box.)
- Owned by you or someone in the household with a mortgage or loan?
- Owned by you or someone in the house free and clear?
- Rented?
- Occupied without payment of rent?
- What is your telephone number?
- What is your name?
- What is your sex? (Mark ONE box.)
- What is your age and date of birth?
- Are you of Hispanic Latino, or Spanish origin?
- No, not of Hispanic Latino, or Spanish origin.
- Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano.
- Yes, Puerto Rican.
- Yes, Cuban.
- Yes, another Hispanic Latino, or Spanish origin -- (write in)
- What is your race? (Mark one or more boxes.)
- White
- Black, African Am., or Negro
- American Indian or Alaska Native (Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.)
- Asian Indian
- Japanese
- Native Hawaiian
- Chinese
- Korean
- Guamanian or Chamorro
- Filipino
- Vietnamese
- Samoan
- Other Asian (Print race, for example Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian and so on.)
- Other Pacific Islander (Print race, for example, Fijian, Tongan, and so on.)
- Some other race. (Print race)
- Do you sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
Gender and Family Questions
A lesson I learned when I made the mistake of asking a binary gender question on a poll a few years ago, was that two option are simply not enough. It leaves transgender people out in the cold. I have since learned that a open text box is generally considered ideal-- though this can become unwieldy for those tabulating the data. A better gender question for the census might read:
What is your gender? (Check ALL that apply.)
- Male
- Female
- Transgender, Transman
- Transgender, Transwoman
- Inter-gender
- Other/Additional genders please specify: ___
- Unknown
What do you think of this new version? How would you ask the question?The Census also asks how each person is related to, "Person 1", the head of the household. This can pose some problems. The options for your relationship to person 1 are:
- Husband or wife
- Biological son or daughter
- Adopted son or daughter
- Stepson or stepdaughter
- brother or sister
- father or mother
- Grandchild
- Parent-in-law
- Son-in-law or daughter-in-law
- Other relative
- Roomer or boarder
- Housemate or roommate
- Unmarried partner
- Other nonrelative
The good news is that there is nothing to prevent gay couples who consider themselves married from reporting their status correctly. So, even though most states fail to recognize gay marriages, there will be a record of who was married for future generations. Are there any other issues with the relationship question? Yes! There is no way for a non-biological parent to indicate their child, even if they are legally on the child’s birth certificate, unless they have done an adoption and are willing to identify as an adoptive parent. Some people think that having the option "child by birth" since if "person 1" is the husband or partner of a woman who had a child from a sperm donor the child can not be listed as the "Biological son or daughter" of person 1... even though they were born in to the family. This sounds like a complex issues but it is very common and leads to bad recording keeping for heterosexual couples, gay couples and others.
Race and Ethnicity Questions
The race and ethnicity questions have always been curious. When doing genealogical research I had one relative who seemed to have a different 'race' on every census: "Negro", "Mulatto", "Black", "Colored" -- the terms keep evolving and often the forms are out of step with the current understanding of race. (Why is Negro still listed?) Some Hispanic/Latino people feel that being cornered in to choosing black and/or white as their race is unfair, especially when, Koreans, for example can simply indicate their nationality. It is unclear if a white person born in Korea who later moved to the US would check Korean as their 'race.' I guess now, at least, we can check more than one option when we need to. My niece will make good use of this, checking Black AND Chinese, in the past she would have been forced to choose a 'side.' A better form for the race and ethnicity question might be:
What is your race/ethnicity?
(Check and write in ALL that apply.)
- White
- Black, Africa-American
- American Indian or Alaska Native (Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.) ______
- Asian Indian
- Japanese
- Native Hawaiian
- Chinese
- Korean
- Guamanian or Chamorro
- Filipino
- Vietnamese
- Samoan
- Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano.
- Puerto Rican.
- Cuban.
- Afro-Caribbean
- Other Asian (Print race, for example Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian and so on.) __
- Other Pacific Islander (Print race, for example, Fijian, Tongan, and so on.) ___
- Other Hispanic Latino, or Spanish origin -- (write in)__
- Some other race or ethnicity. (Print race) _____
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I'm tempted to simply remove the nationalities from the list, but it is probably better to leave them to provide continuity in the data-- and since I don't want to further validate the concept of race by making a strict list and saying "these the official races." It would also be nice if some predominately black nationalities were included such as Haitian and Jamaican so I added "Afro-Caribbean." What else should we add?
Is there a better way to organize this? How would you word the question?
It is very quaint that the Census is still done on paper-- that is probably best since the digital divide remains wide. Collecting data in the same way for over 200 years has provided the US with a very reliable if incomplete picture of the people-- changing methods and questions now would pose risks. But, we must continue to evolve and change the questions to match the changing face of this country.