Estimating the Effects of Parental Characteristics on the Identities of Multiracial Children

C. Matthew Snipp, Stanford University
Candy M. Ku, Stanford University

This paper estimates the effects of education and other parental characteristics on the relative likelihood that children will be assigned a multiracial identity. The analysis uses two sources of data. One is the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey and the other is the public use version of the 2000 decennial microdata file. These two files were selected because they offer complementary strengths and off setting weaknesses. The PUMS census data is a very large file from a questionnaire-based survey with little control over who completes the instrument. The ECLS data is a much smaller data base personal interviews and ostensibly it is more accurate than the PUMS data. While these two sources of information display roughly comparable results, the analyses of these data also show a striking pattern of divergent, even contradictory results.