390 - Evaluating Parents’ Self-Reported Open-Ended Identification of Their Own and Their Child’s Race and Ethnicity

Publication Number: 390.4661

Carolyn Sutter, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Jennyfer Park, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States; Carly Menker, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Kelly Michelson, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States

Background: Obtaining information about research participants’ race and ethnicity is critical in understanding and promoting equity in health-focused research. Fixed-choice response categories may not capture individuals’ self-reported race and ethnicity. Pre-2020 research suggests that fixed-choice response categories aligned with self-identification; yet more recent research suggests this is no longer true. A 2021 Pew Research report showed fixed-choice and open-ended responses mainly matched for participants who report being one race, and not for individuals who identified as more than one race or as Hispanic. Only about half of adult Americans felt the 2020 census questions reflected their identity. Given the changing demographics of Americans and growing multiracial population, understanding how adults identify their own and their child’s race and ethnicity is an important step towards updated demographic data collection strategies.

Objective: To describe parents’ self-reported open-ended identification of their own and their child’s race and ethnicity.

Design/Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey from September 6-October 7, 2024 using the Voices of Child Health Parent Panel survey, administered via web and phone in Spanish and English. Eligible parents lived in the state of Illinois and had at least one child between 0-17 years old. Parents self-reported their own race and ethnicity and their child's race and ethnicity using an open-ended format (Table 1). Data were weighted to be representative of Illinois parents. These analyses considered participants’ self-report of their own and their child’s race and ethnicity with respect to number of terms used (one versus multiple) and if responses about race and ethnicity to two separate open-ended questions were the same or different.

Results: 1,078 parents completed the survey in Fall 2025 (Table 2). 20-30% of parents reported their own and their child’s race and ethnicity using multiple terms. Additionally, 30–40% of parents reported their own race and ethnicity and their child’s race and ethnicity using the same terms. (Table 3)

Conclusion(s): These results show that fixed-choice responses requiring individuals to pick one race and one ethnicity and to differentiate between race and ethnicity do not align with how up to 40% of people would choose to self-report race and ethnicity. Future analysis will compare participants’ responses to the open-text and fixed-choice items. These analyses provide needed information from community members about how to ask questions about race and ethnicity.

Table 1. Open-ended Race and Ethnicity Questions


Table 2. Sample Demographic Information (n = 1078)


Table 3. Open-Text Race and Ethnicity Responses (n = 1,078)
Table3.pdf

Table 1. Open-ended Race and Ethnicity Questions


Table 2. Sample Demographic Information (n = 1078)


Table 3. Open-Text Race and Ethnicity Responses (n = 1,078)
Table3.pdf