McKenney N R, Bennett C E
U.S. Bureau of the Census, Population Division, Washington, DC 20233.
Public Health Rep. 1994 Jan-Feb;109(1):16-25.
In this paper, the authors describe some of the complexities of collecting and presenting data on race and ethnicity based on the experiences of the Bureau of the Census. Different methods of data collection, different content and format of questions, and different definitions make it difficult to collect consistent race and ethnic data across data systems. The Bureau of the Census experiences have shown that changing ethnic self-identity and concepts, intent of the question, consistency of reporting, and the classification of persons of mixed racial parentage affect the quality of the data. These are some of the issues that must be addressed as statistical agencies and researchers seek to provide comparable race and ethnic data.
在本文中，作者根据人口普查局的经验描述了收集和呈现种族与族裔数据的一些复杂性。不同的数据收集方法、问题的不同内容和格式以及不同的定义使得难以在各个数据系统中收集一致的种族和族裔数据。人口普查局的经验表明，不断变化的族裔自我认同和概念、问题的意图、报告的一致性以及混血种族出身者的分类都会影响数据质量。这些是统计机构和研究人员在寻求提供可比的种族和族裔数据时必须解决的一些问题。
