Assessing Availability and Quality of Administrative Records for Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: State Administrative Data

This report on state administrative data is the second of a three-part series to better understand the different roles administrative records can play in census data collection processes, and their strengths and limitations regarding the coverage of race information for the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities. Part one of this series, Assessing Availability and Quality of Administrative Records for Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: Introduction and Federal Database Analysis¹, begins by providing important background information on the attributes of administrative records. It describes how they differ from surveys, offers a brief history of the Census Bureau’s use of administrative records, and provides an assessment of federal records. 

The aims of this second report are twofold: to assess which state administrative data collections identify Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations and analyze to what level or degree this collection takes place. Ultimately, these data sources could be useful in improving the coverage and race (and potentially subgroup) classification of these populations in the U.S. Census Bureau’s censuses and surveys—but only if utilized properly and appropriately. Our focus in this paper is to conduct a study based on a sample of states for potential administrative data sources that may provide the Census Bureau with an enhanced ability to capture the total population and its race and ethnic characteristics in the event of non-response. This paper unfolds in four parts. We begin by outlining our approach that defines the universe of states included in this study. This is followed by a description of the state administrative records sources we reviewed, along with national statistics of Asian American and NHPI participants where available. Next, we outline our methodology for source review, and end with our findings and conclusions.