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Understanding the Quality of Alternative Citizenship Data Sources for the 2020 Census

Author

Listed:
  • J. David Brown
  • Misty L. Heggeness
  • Suzanne M. Dorinski
  • Lawrence Warren
  • Moises Yi

Abstract

This paper examines the quality of citizenship data in self-reported survey responses compared to administrative records and evaluates options for constructing an accurate count of resident U.S. citizens. Person-level discrepancies between survey-collected citizenship data and administrative records are more pervasive than previously reported in studies comparing survey and administrative data aggregates. Our results imply that survey-sourced citizenship data produce significantly lower estimates of the noncitizen share of the population than would be produced from currently available administrative records; both the survey-sourced and administrative data have shortcomings that could contribute to this difference. Our evidence is consistent with noncitizen respondents misreporting their own citizenship status and failing to report that of other household members. At the same time, currently available administrative records may miss some naturalizations and capture others with a delay. The evidence in this paper also suggests that adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census would lead to lower self-response rates in households potentially containing noncitizens, resulting in higher fieldwork costs and a lower-quality population count.

Suggested Citation

  • J. David Brown & Misty L. Heggeness & Suzanne M. Dorinski & Lawrence Warren & Moises Yi, 2018. "Understanding the Quality of Alternative Citizenship Data Sources for the 2020 Census," Working Papers 18-38, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:18-38
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Collection Development: Reference Resources Roundup (A Curated Collection of Recently Published or Updated Data-Rich Reports Available on the Web)
      by ? in LJ INFOdocket on 2018-09-11 14:22:48

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yasenov, Vasil & Hotard, Michael & Lawrence, Duncan & Hainmueller, Jens & Laitin, David, 2019. "Standardizing the Fee Waiver Application Increased Naturalization Rates of Low-Income Immigrants," OSF Preprints acmdw, Center for Open Science.
    2. Adela Luque & Michaela Dillon & Julia Manzella & James Noon & Kevin Rinz & Victoria Udalova, 2019. "Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D): Exploring Longitudinal Consistency and Sub-national Estimates," Working Papers 19-34, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    3. J. David Brown & Misty L. Heggeness & Suzanne M. Dorinski & Lawrence Warren & Moises Yi, 2019. "Predicting the Effect of Adding a Citizenship Question to the 2020 Census," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1173-1194, August.
    4. Brown, J. David & Heggeness, Misty L. & Dorinski, Suzanne M. & Warren, Lawrence & Yi, Moises, 2019. "Estimating the Potential Effects of Adding a Citizenship Question to the 2020 Census," IZA Discussion Papers 12087, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Thomas Dee & Mark Murphy, 2018. "Vanished Classmates: The Effects of Local Immigration Enforcement on Student Enrollment," NBER Working Papers 25080, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. William P. O’Hare, 2020. "Are Self-Participation Rates Predictive of Accuracy in the U.S. Census?," International Journal of Social Science Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 8(6), pages 23-34, December.
    7. John M. Abowd & William R. Bell & J. David Brown & Michael B. Hawes & Misty L. Heggeness & Andrew D. Keller & Vincent T. Mule Jr. & Joseph L. Schafer & Matthew Spence & Lawrence Warren & Moises Yi, 2020. "Determination of the 2020 U.S. Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) Using Administrative Records and Statistical Methodology Technical Report," Working Papers 20-33, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.

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