Methodological Research

The U.S. Census Bureau is considering whether to drop some questions that it has used for decades and have been the source of complaints from the public who see them as intrusive or overly burdensome.

Latinos are not the only group of Americans who utilize the “some other race” category on the census form—but they are the most likely to do so. In 2010, 6.2% of Americans selected “some other race,” up from 5.5% in 2000. Among all those who answered the race question this way in 2010, 96.8% were Hispanic.

Organizations representing people of Middle Eastern and North African descent are asking the Census Bureau to add a new ethnic category for them on forms, and it is one of the changes the bureau is exploring.

This posting summarizes a Fact Tank article about the Census Bureau's study of a possible new ethnic category for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent. The bureau has embarked on a broad look at how it asks about race and ethnicity, preparing for the 2020 Census.

This posting links to a Fact Tank article explaining the Census Bureau's research into new question wording about race and ethnicity. The bureau is testing a combined question in an attempt to improve response rates and reduce the number of people who check "some other race."

A conversation with Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Internet Project, about the project's new report on mapping Twitter conversations.

People connect to form groups on Twitter for a variety of purposes. The networks they create have identifiable contours that are shaped by the topic being discussed, the information and influencers driving the conversation, and the social network structures of the participants.

After centuries of using the postal service and in-person visits, U.S. will experiment with contacting people by email or text, pushing them to respond online.

In the coming months, 60% of interviews in our national polls will be conducted via cellphones and 40% on landline phones.

Polling organizations devote a great deal of attention to the wording of survey questions, but they need to be just as concerned about how questions are ordered. The context in which a specific question is asked, particularly what directly precedes a question in a telephone interview, often has an impact on the way people respond.