All persons wore asked to identify themselves according to the following race categories on the 1980 questionnaire: White, Black or Negro, American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, and Other. The "Other" category includes Malayan, Polynesian, Thai, and other groups not included in the specific categories listed on the questionnaire. This item was asked on a complete-count basis.
The concept of race as used by the Census bureau reflects self-identification by respondents; it does not denote any clear-cut scientific definition of biological stock. Since the 1980 census obtained information on race through self-identification, the data represent self-classification by people according to the race with which they identify themselves. For persons with parents of different races who could not provide a single response to the race question, the race of the person's mother was used; however, if a single response could not be provided for the person's mother, the first race reported by the person was used.
Counts of the population by race in complete-count tabulations are provisional. Final counts for race will be determined after the sample data have been processed. The sample counts will first appear on tape on STF 3 and in print in Characteristics of the Population, General Social and Economic Characteristics (PC80-1-C) reports.
Limited edit and review operations were performed during the complete-count operations; write-in responses were reviewed in an attempt to classify entries to specific categories, where appropriate. For instance, if the "Other" circle was marked with a write-in entry "Caucasian," then the response was recoded as White. (Additional examples are noted below.) However, all such cases were not identified in the complete-count processing. During the processing of sample questionnaires, a more thorough review and additional editing was done to resolve inconsistent or incomplete responses. Also, during the processing of sample questionnaires, write-in entries for the "Other" category were assigned specific codes, which is included on the person's basic record in the census sample detailed tape files.
Asian and Pacific Islander write-in entries, such as Indo-Chinese, Cambodian, or Polynesian, included in the "Other" category during 100-percent processing, are collectively tabulated and shown as "Other Asian and Pacific Islander" in the census sample tabulations; this group, "Other Asian and Pacific Islanders," will be included in the broader Asian and Pacific Islander category in all sample tabulations by race. This shift of "Other Asian and Pacific Islander" entries out of the "Other races" category in sample tabulations and the recoding of write-in entries in the "Other" category to specific categories where appropriate Will affect the comparability between complete-count and sample data for some groups.
Persons who indicated their race as White, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories listed on the questionnaire but entered a response such as Canadian, German, Italian, Lebanese, or Polish. (Persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specified race categories but wrote in entries such as Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, or Dominican were included in the "Other races" category; in the 1970 census most of these persons were included in the "White" category.)
Persons who indicated their race as Black or Negro, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported entries such as Black Puerto Rican, Haitian, Jamaican, Nigerian, or West Indian.
American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut
Persons who indicated their race as "Indian (American)" or who did not indicate a specific race category but reported the name of an Indian tribe.
Persons who indicated their race as "Eskimo."
Persons who indicated their race as "Aleut."
Asian and Pacific Islander
In complete-count tabulations, includes all of the groups listed below except "Other Asian and Pacific Islander." In sample tabulations, it includes all of the groups listed below.
Persons who indicated their race as Japanese, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but entered a response such as Nipponese or Japanese American.
Persons who indicated their race as Chinese, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported entries such as Cantonese, Formosan, Taiwanese, or Tibetan.
Persons who indicated their race as Filipino, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but entered a response such as Filipino American or Philippine.
Persons who indicated their race as Korean, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported a response such as Korean American.
Persons who indicated their race as Asian Indian, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported entries such as Bengali, Bharati, Dravidian, East Indian, Goanese, Hindu Indic, Kashmiri, or South Asian.
Persons who indicated their race as Vietnamese, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but reported a response such as Vietnam.
Persons who indicated their race as Hawaiian. In the State of Hawaii, al1 persons who reported "Part-Hawaiian" were included in this category. Guamanian. Persons who indicated their race as Guamanian, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the race categories, but reported an entry such as Chamorro or Guam.
Persons who indicated their race as Samoan, as well as persons who did not classify themselves in one of the specific race categories, but entered a response such as American Samoan or Western Samoan.
Other Asian and Pacific Islander
In sample tabulations only, persons who reported Cambodian, Hmong, Indo-Chinese, Laotian, Pakistani, Polynesian, Fiji Islander, Tahitian, Thai, or similar responses. Census basic records include codes for over 50 separate race group s within this category. In complete-count tabulations, this group is part of the "Other races" category below.
Other (Race n.e.c. "not elsewhere classified")
Includes all other races (except "Other Asian and Pacific Islander" groups) which were not included in the specific categories listed on the questionnaire. For example, persons reporting in the "Other" race category and providing write-in entries such as Eurasian, Cosmopolitan, Inter-racial, or a Spanish origin group (e.g., Mexican, Cuban, or Puerto Rican) were included in Race, n.e.c. Other Asian and Pacific Islanders are included in the "Other" category in 100-percent tabulations. Persons who did not report a specific race but wrote in entries such as "Mexican," "Cuban," "South American, "Chicano," or "La Raza" remained in the "Other races" category for complete-count tabulations, and in the "Race, n.e.c." category for sample tabulations. (STF 3, STF 4, and public-use microdata samples separately identify, as a subcategory within "Race. n.e.c.," persons who wrote in an entry implying Spanish origin. Such entries are not necessarily consistent with responses in the Spanish origin question.)
In a few tables in which data for American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Asian and Pacific Islander are not presented separately, the "Other" category encompasses all race categories not shown separately.
In some tabulations, the "Other" or "Race, n.e.c." category is omitted to save space; data for this category are derivable by subtracting the sum of the specified race categories from the total.
In certain printed tables, where space is limited, data for persons of Spanish origin are presented alongside data for up to four major race groups. In such situations, users should not be misled by the proximity of these two types of data. Spanish origin is not a race category, and persons of Spanish origin may be of any race. Tabulations in a number of sources present data separately for race categories (e.g., White, Black, and "Other") for persons not of Spanish origin. In addition, the number of Spanish-origin persons is given by race.
In previous censuses, undercoverage of the population has been associated with race. The 1970 census missed Blacks at a much higher rate than Whites. The Bureau has not prepared undercoverage rates for races other than White or Black, because vital records and other sources of relevant statistics do not consistently distinguish among other races.
Questions on "race" or "color" have been asked in each census since 1790. In 1970, when persons with parents of different races were in doubt 8s to their classification, the race of the father was used. In 1980, the race of the mother was used for persons who could not provide a single response. The 1970 category "Negro or Black" has been retitled "Black or Negro. Individual categories for Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Guamanian, and Samoan have been added. In 1970, the categories Eskimo and Aleut appeared only on questionnaires used in Alaska; they were replaced by Hawaiian and Korean in all other States. In 1980, all four categories appeared on the questionnaire. As a result of the additions, the 1980 questionnaire had 14 specific race categories instead of 8 as in 1970.
In 1970, persons who did not report a specific race but wrote in Hispanic categories such as "Mexican," "Puerto Rican," or "Cuban" in the race question were assigned to White; for 1980 these persons remain in the "Other races" category.
See also: "Ancestry;" "Race of Householder;" "Spanish Origin".
