Federal statistical datasets allowing disaggregation of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander communities

This site provides a searchable catalog of federal datasets that include disaggregated data about Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander populations. These datasets cover a variety of topics and are sortable by the disaggregated groups included; both topics and disaggregated groups can be searched below. For each dataset, the search will return information about the contents of relevant datasets and how to gain access to the data.

This tool is released in response to ongoing concerns about data and equity. In 2016, the data and research subcommittee of what was then the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) explored challenges faced by researchers who want to understand differences among specific Asian and Pacific Islander populations. In particular, challenges surrounding data availability, data dissemination, and estimates for small populations, were highlighted. This work is described in the document, entitled "Best Practices for the Disaggregation of Federal Data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders," which is available here.

As the member agencies of the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) work to address the challenges outlined in the 2016 report, the most relevant challenges to this data disaggregation catalog are data privacy and sample size:

DATA PRIVACY: Providing access to disaggregated demographic data must be done in a way that controls and minimizes the risk of an individual being identified in the data.

Federal agencies use a variety of tools to allow access to valuable data for research purposes while controlling and minimizing privacy risks. For example, Federal statistical agencies often allow restricted access to microdata for approved research projects, subject to data use agreements. Each entry in this catalog explains how to access both public-use data and restricted-use data. Public-use data are data available for general use because such data do not include any personally identifiable information. Such data also often contain additional protections to prevent identification of anyone included in the data. In contrast, restricted-use data are data containing information integral to research but which could potentially result in the identification of personal information if mis-used. Such data are not released to the public, and access is generally only granted researchers who have demonstrated a scientific need for the data, and who agree to prevent any unauthorized disclosure. For additional guidance see: Data Protection Toolkit.

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SAMPLE SIZE: Another challenge is whether the sample size is large enough to generate a statistically robust estimate for a particular disaggregated race group.

Researchers are encouraged to consider the potential sample size limitations associated with using disaggregated data. To help researchers determine if the sample size for a given Asian or Pacific Islander group in a given dataset is sufficient for the analysis they would like to conduct, we will update this site with a link to the 2020 Census estimates for disaggregated Asian and Pacific Islander groups as soon as they are released. Please refer any questions about implementing these disaggregated data best practices to the sponsoring agency for that data. Each data catalog entry also includes information from the sponsoring agency about minimum sample size.

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The data catalog below allows users to filter by topics of interest and disaggregated groups of interest. Users may select multiple topics or disaggregated groups as needed.

ABOUT THE DATASETS INCLUDED HERE

All current federal data collections measuring race or ethnicity must include separate response options for Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander per the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards released in 1997. The datasets included here are federal statistical datasets that, as of spring 2022, include disaggregated race data for the AANHPI community beyond the minimum OMB categories of "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander." This data catalog was released to the public on May 20, 2022, and last updated on May 17th, 2022.

For questions about the individual datasets, please contact the sponsoring agency listed in that dataset's catalog entry. For webpage concerns, please contact FCSM as noted in the sidebar.

You can select multiple items under both topics and disaggregated groups.