Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This project analyzes the racial identity follow-up question frequently used in surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. The follow-up question applies to respondents who report more than one race, and asks them to specify a primary race. Cognitive analysis was utilized to 1) better understand respondents’ interpretations of the question as well as the processes by which responses were constructed; such information would help to determine the type of information collected by the question, and 2) identify potential problems in the question leading to response error, item non-response or respondent burden.
Two rounds of cognitive interviews were conducted. An interpretive analysis of the first round interviews revealed that while a majority of participants responded to the wording “which of these groups BEST represents your race” according to a cultural understanding of race, some participants based their responses on other dimensions of racial identity. Some participants either had difficulty determining the intent of “best represents” or could not determine which criteria upon which to base their answer. Four dimensions of racial identity were discovered as criteria that individuals used when reporting race: cultural, social, administrative and ancestral. To improve the follow-up question, it was re-written as four separate questions, each worded specifically to capture these various dimensions of race. Analysis of a second round of interviews suggests that the four re-written questions produce little to no respondent burden, are relevant to participants, and are consistent with participants’ conceptualizations of racial identity.