2023 SDR Race and Ethnicity Data Collection Experiment Plan
In the 2023 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR), NCSES will explore the use of a combined race and ethnicity question in preparation for collecting more detailed race and ethnicity data in future rounds of the SDR. Currently SDR respondents have not been typically asked a race or ethnicity question. Instead, the survey has relied predominantly on data collected in the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). The exception to this is cases that have race or ethnicity missing from the SED and earlier rounds of SDR.
NCSES intends to test new a new approach to colleting race and ethnicity data that combines the questions on race and ethnicity into a single question and includes detailed categories. This approach and the question wording is derived from the initial proposals for updating the race and ethnicity statistical standards1.
The race and ethnicity questions used in the SED and SDR prior to the 2023 SDR include a Hispanic origin question with five categories (Non-Hispanic, Mexican or Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Other Hispanic) followed by a question on race that includes five categories (American Indian Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White). The new combined question being tested collects considerably more detail on race and ethnicity in addition to combining the collection of the race and ethnicity constructs into one question. The new combined question has seven main race and ethnicity categories. In addition, the question includes detailed categories for each race and ethnicity category. In total, the question includes 43 additional response categories and open-ended text boxes to collect detailed information and to enter verbatim information if applicable.
Experimental Design
The key goal of testing the new question is to determine whether detailed race and ethnicity data can be collected that is accurate and of high utility while ensuring privacy and confidentiality protections. The information will support the ongoing research led by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in revising OMB's 1997 Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15). Almost all SDR respondents will be asked the new question in order to leverage the full sample size of the survey.
Key aspects of the design
The combined race and ethnicity question will be asked near the end of the SDR questionnaire to mitigate any concerns about data loss due to potential survey breakoff.
Only respondents who participate through the web and computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) modes will be asked the race and ethnicity question. Given the survey schedule, there is not time to revise the paper version of the questionnaire to add the new question. It is expected that more than 90% of respondents will participate via the web or CATI in the 2023 SDR. Therefore, limiting the experiment to the web and CATI modes will have a minimal impact on the generalizability of the resulting experiment data. In addition, there are 163 respondents who have refused to answer the race and ethnicity questions in past rounds of SDR. These respondents will also not be asked the combined race and ethnicity question.
In order to produce official statistics from the 2023 SDR about race and ethnicity, as in past SDR years, race and ethnicity for each respondent will be derived from their SED responses. For those who did not provide race and ethnicity in the SED, or in subsequent years of the SDR, their race and ethnicity will be imputed. This last step differs from past SDR years, in which respondents who did not provide their race and ethnicity in the SED or previous SDR years were asked the race and ethnicity questions again in the current SDR web and computer-assistance telephone interviews response modes.
The race and ethnicity examples that are shown in the Initial Proposals For Updating OMB’s Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards, such as “enter, for example, Guatemalan, Spaniard, Ecuadorian, etc.” are different from the examples that the SDR will show. This is because the SDR will first present broad race and ethnicity categories before more detailed ones appear, and the examples will prompt all of the detailed answer choices, rather than only the write-in answer choices at the end of each section.
The following data will be examined to assess the relative efficacy of the race and ethnicity questions:
Response distribution
Item nonresponse
Reliability of estimates at the response option level
Level of disclosure risk at response option level
Timing data
Incidence of breakoff
Other specified responses
2023 SDR Combined Race and Ethnicity Survey Items
RACEINTRO
The next question is on race and ethnicity. Data from this question will be used for research purposes only.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The RACE survey item will appear as shown below when first presented to the survey participant. If any of the 7 main racial/ethnic categories is selected, subgroup options will expand and be revealed. If any of those 7 main racial/ethnic categories is de-selected, subgroup options will collapse and be hidden.
RACE [PROGRAMMING NOTE: This is the initial display.]
What is your race and/or ethnicity?
Select all that apply.
White
For example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, French, etc.
Hispanic or Latino
For example, Mexican or Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, Colombian, etc.
Black or African American
For example, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somali, etc.
Asian
For example, Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc.
American Indian or Alaska Native
For example, Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe, Mayan, Aztec, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Tribal Government, Tlingit, etc.
Middle Eastern or North African
For example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Moroccan, Israeli, etc.
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
For example, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, Marshallese, etc.
RACE [PROGRAMMING NOTE: This is the fully expanded display where the survey participant selects all 7 main racial/ethnic categories.]
What is your race and/or ethnicity?
Select all that apply.
White
For example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, French, etc.
Provide details below.
German
Irish
English
Italian
Polish
French
Other, please specify (Enter, for example, Scottish, Norwegian, Dutch, etc.):
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
Hispanic or Latino
For example, Mexican or Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, Colombian, etc.
Provide details below.
Mexican or Mexican American
Puerto Rican
Cuban
Salvadoran
Dominican
Colombian
Other, please specify (Enter, for example, Guatemalan, Spaniard, Ecuadorian, etc.:
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
Black or African American
For example, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somali, etc.
Provide details below.
African American
Jamaican
Haitian
Nigerian
Ethiopian
Somali
Other, please specify (Enter, for example, Ghanaian, South African, Barbadian, etc.):
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
Asian
For example, Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc.
Provide details below.
Chinese
Filipino
Asian Indian
Vietnamese
Korean
Japanese
Other, please specify (Enter, for example, Pakistani, Cambodian, Hmong, etc.):
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
American Indian or Alaska Native
For example, Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe, Mayan, Aztec, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Tribal Government, Tlingit, etc.
Please specify details:
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
Middle Eastern or North African
For example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Moroccan, Israeli, etc.
Provide details below.
Lebanese
Iranian
Egyptian
Syrian
Moroccan
Other, please specify (Enter, for example, Algerian, Iraqi, Kurdish, etc.):
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
For example, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, Marshallese, etc.
Provide details below.
Native Hawaiian
Samoan
Chamorro
Tongan
Fijian
Other, please specify (Enter, for example, Palauan, Tahitian, Chuukese, etc.):
PROGRAMMING INSTRUCTION: DISPLAY A TEXT BOX WITH CHARACTER COUNT BELOW (e.g., 0/100). ALLOW LENGTH OF 100 CHARACTERS.
1 See the proposed example for self-response data collections in figure 2 of the federal register notice at
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/27/2023-01635/initial-proposals-for-updating-ombs-race-and-ethnicity-statistical-standards. For more information on OMB’s efforts to update the race and ethnicity standards, please see https://spd15revision.gov.
D.6-
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Chang, Wan-Ying |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-07-29 |