Giving Compass' Take:
- Here are suggestions for collecting and supporting disaggregated AA NHPI data to understand these diverse subgroups and protect their privacy.
- How can funders invest in data collection and bolster this work?
- Learn about disaggregating U.S. economic data to focus on racial equity.
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In response to recent pushes for more disaggregated data on the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA NHPI) community and research highlighting the importance of such data, the federal government has made efforts to prioritize disaggregation by creating the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, launching the Interagency Committee on Statistical Policy’s AA NHPI data catalog, and, most recently, releasing revisions to federal data collection standards. Although these steps are promising, data gaps persist.
Building off these federal datasets and with the support of The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), we conducted a scan and consulted with seven Urban Institute experts to build a snapshot of federal data sources and other data assets, such as surveys and reports, that disaggregated by AA NHPI subgroups. We hope this work can help inform how policymakers, organizations, and communities use disaggregated AA NHPI data to improve access to social services and document inequities.
Although collecting disaggregated data is increasingly prioritized at the federal level, publicly available datasets often aggregate to broader categories like “Asian” or “Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander,” requiring additional work by researchers to access more granular data. Even among surveys that do collect more subgroups, the degree of data disaggregation for the AA NHPI population varies. The census remains one of the most comprehensive sources of disaggregated data, with the American Community Survey including more than 50 subgroups pertaining to AA NHPI people.
Access to disaggregated data is crucial for understanding the diverse AA NHPI experiences, but it must be balanced with protecting the privacy of smaller subgroups. Drawing on insights from Urban experts in housing finance, philanthropy, and labor policy, we offer suggestions for those seeking to use and bolster disaggregated AA NHPI data:
- Incorporate tools like imputation.
- Pursue community-engaged methods and qualitative data.
- Strategically leverage and improve existing data collection efforts.
- Use private data with public datasets.
Read the full article about data disaggregation by Mikaela Tajo and Rita Ko at Urban Institute.