The instructions and wording for some questions in the 2014 Census Test have changed.  The research we conducted involved testing wording changes on questions on race and Hispanic origin and tested new response categories for opposite sex and same sex husband/wife/spouse and unmarried partner relationships.

There are ten questions - six questions for each member of the household and four questions for the entire household.

For each household member, we asked the name, sex, age, relationship to the respondent, Hispanic origin, and race. We asked whether the housing unit is owned or rented, the telephone number, and how many people live in the house.

If you responded to the 2014 Census Test over the Internet, you will be able to do so in English or in Spanish. However, the paper questionnaire will be in English only.

We have not prepared guides similar to those that were created for the 2010 Census. We usually conduct each test using telephone questionnaire assistance or by having enumerators assist with languages other than English or Spanish. We also included different wording for the questions on the paper questionnaire and on the Internet questionnaires for research and testing purposes. This form of testing makes it impractical to develop and distribute language guides.

Statistics on race and ethnicity are required for several federal programs and are critical to informing many federal policies. States use these statistics to meet legislative redistricting requirements. The statistics are also needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act, to promote equal employment opportunities, and to assess racial and ethnic disparities in health and environmental risks. 

The census asks respondents to “self-identify” their race or ethnicity. This means you are asked to indicate the race and ethnic groups you most strongly consider yourself to be, regardless of how many generations removed you might be from that group. For individuals who think of themselves as having more than one race or ethnic origin, they are able to write in more than one.

Hispanic origin data are used to carry out many federal statutes. These cover enforcement of bilingual election rules under the Voting Rights Act and monitoring and enforcing equal employment opportunities under the Civil Rights Act. In addition, information about people of Hispanic origin is used by local governments to run programs and meet legislative requirements at the community level. For example, these data are used to help identify people who may not be receiving medical services under the Public Health Service.

The Census Bureau tested wording changes that could make some of the questions on the census less confusing for respondents and improve its accuracy. During tests in 2010 and 2012 we experimented with changes to the race and Hispanic origin question that combined the separate questions about race and Hispanic origin into one question.  We continued to test this change again in the 2014 Census Test.

We also tested some changes to the examples provided under the different race and Hispanic origin questions.  These are based on results of previous tests that indicate which  examples resonate best with the largest audiences.

Finally, the 2014 Census Test examined new response categories for opposite sex and same sex husband/wife/spouse and unmarried partner relationships.  We tested variations of those proposed changes in the Internet and paper data collection questionnaires.