Census Bureau Paper

Review Questions
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The issue of race for the 2000 Census differed with the one for 1990 in many ways. Most importantly, respondents were allowed the option of picking one more race groups to specify their racial individualities. The 2000 census followed the federal criteria for gathering and presenting information on race as defined in October 1997 by the Office of Management and Budget, OMB (Grieco & Cassidy, 2006). Changes made by the Bureau to the operationalization and conceptualization of race factor in the census of 2000 dictated the utilization of a minimum of 5 race groups including white; African American or Black; Alaska Native or American Indian; Asian; Native Hawaiian. For persons unable to fit in the five categories, a sixth group— “Some other race” — was created. Additionally, individuals who picked one race were categorized under race alone populace while those that belonged to multiple groups were described as two or various race category (Grieco & Cassidy, 2006).
These changes made by the Bureau were necessary due to the varying lifestyles and sensitivities that have been developing among the citizens of the US. Also, new technologies also necessitated the alteration of the questions regarding race that was initially asked. The revision of interrogations on race, thus, was done to better replicate the increasing diversity of the country (Grieco & Cassidy, 2006).
The alteration in the operationalization of the 2000 Census could produce different conclusions relating to race.

This is because the questions structured for the 2000 Census had several dissimilarities to those issued in the 1990 Census (Grieco & Cassidy, 2006). Most importantly, in the 2000 Census, respondents were allowed to select one or more racial groups to specify their ethnic identity. Therefore, the method is likely to produce different conclusions on race compared to the previous Census (Grieco & Cassidy, 2006).
Reference
Grieco, E. M., & Cassidy, R. C. (2006). Overview of race and Hispanic origin: Census 2000 brief. US Census Bureau.