Ratcliffe, Peter, 1948- (2008) 'Ethnic group’ and the population census in Britain : mission impossible? In: First ISA Forum of Sociology : Sociological Research and Public Debate, Barcelona, Spain, 05-08 Sep 2008 (Unpublished)

Abstract

This paper will review the reasons why it was felt necessary for the first time in the 1991 Census of Population to insert a question on ‘ethnic group’ & at the same time ask why it took so long for this to happen. It then questions whether it is possible to generate a valid & reliable measure of ‘ethnicity’/ethnic group in such an exercise, especially given that conflicting pressures/agendas mean that the resulting question(s) is inevitably destined to be deployed to meet disparate & competing ends (therefore inevitably becoming ‘Janus-faced’). Focus then turns to the specific form the question has taken, first in 1991 & then in April 2001. As the author was a member of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Working Party on the ethnic group question, an insight is given into the forces constraining those who wanted a more radical shift in question structure & content. It concludes with an assessment of the potential use of data generated in 2001, especially in the light of the fact that ‘religion’ was also added to the Census agenda at this time.

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