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- The Government Statistical Service (GSS) has a harmonised standard for ethnicity classification. The ethnic groups used in the harmonised standard and the latest Census are usually the same. The harmonised standard is being reviewed and currently uses the ethnic groups from the 2011 Census.
www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/ethnic-groups/List of ethnic groups - GOV.UK - Ethnicity facts and figures
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Aug 1, 2011 · The current harmonised standard for ethnic group is based on the 2011 Census questions across the UK. Surveys using the same question as any of the 2011 Censuses can therefore be deemed...
- Review of ethnicity harmonised standard: findings from phase ...
The current ethnicity harmonised standard is based on the...
- Review of ethnicity harmonised standard: findings from phase ...
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Key considerations: Trustworthiness
- 3. Key considerations: Quality
- 4. Key considerations: Value
- 5. Annex A: areas to consider for collecting, analysing and reporting ethnicity data
1.1 The importance of ethnicity data
These standards contribute to action 6 of Inclusive Britain, the government’s action plan for racial equality: To ensure more responsible and accurate reporting on race and ethnicity, the Race Disparity Unit (RDU) will, by the end of 2022, consult on new standards for government departments and other public bodies on how to record, understand and communicate ethnicity data. Ethnicity data has become important in recent years. A person’s ethnicity is often collected in government datasets. The 2017 Race Disparity Audit identified many of these datasets and showed disparities that impacted different aspects of people’s lives. This led to the creation of Ethnicity facts and figures. This website contains over 180 government datasets about people from different ethnic groups and has proven to be a valuable resource for users of ethnicity data. As well as the amount of ethnicity data, the quality of ethnicity data is also important. The following publications have reiterated the importance of data quality in recent years: the Race Disparity Unit’s Quality Improvement Plan the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities the Inclusive Britain report quarterly reports on progress to address COVID-19 health inequalities the Inclusive Data Taskforce report Ethnicity data needs to be fit for purpose. This is so the government and other organisations can use the data to properly understand disparities and their causes, and to develop policies that reduce any unjustified disparities between ethnic groups.
1.2 The standards and the Code of Practice for Statistics
Producers of official statistics should commit to the standards in the Code of Practice for Statistics. This gives confidence that government statistics: have public value are high quality are produced by people and organisations that are trustworthy The code formally applies to official statistics. It also sets good practice for everyone who works with statistics. RDU has based these ethnicity standards around the 3 ‘pillars’ of the code: trustworthiness quality value They give guidance on how to improve the quality of collection, analysis and reporting of ethnicity data. They also give more general guidance on trustworthiness and value. The Code of Practice, as well as the Government Functional Standard, have more basic data considerations, such as why and when to collect data or conduct analysis, as well as expectations for the planning and undertaking of analysis to support well-informed decision making. Both the Government Functional Standard web page and the Code of Practice website also have supporting guidance and case studies.
1.3 Who the standards are for
The standards apply to people in government departments or public bodies who are: collecting data about people’s ethnicity – for example, in surveys analysing differences between ethnic groups publishing ethnicity data – for example, in statistical releases RDU would also encourage other organisations commissioned by government departments and other public bodies to undertake ethnicity data collection, analysis and reporting to also use the standards. The standards have been written with the expectation that individuals in government departments or other public bodies collecting, analysing or reporting on ethnicity data would most often be analysts.
2.1 Data collection, reporting and analysis
Collect ethnicity data in a respectful way – it should support public interest Your collection, analysis and reporting of ethnicity data should support a legitimate public interest. You should do this in the least intrusive way. You should collect ethnicity data in a respectful way and acknowledge cultural sensitivities when you do, for example in the language that you use when collecting data. Understand the risks to data quality or survey response when asking for sensitive information. These might include the burden on survey respondents, or emotional impact, for example, in the case of children. Supporting evidence and guidance RDU blog post: asking people about their ethnicity Understand what data can be legally collected about ethnicity, and comply with relevant legislation If you are collecting ethnicity data, you should understand what data you can legally collect about an individual’s ethnicity. You should follow relevant legislation. Ethnicity data is classed as special category data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Special category data is personal data that needs more protection because it is sensitive. In order to lawfully process special category ethnicity data, you must identify both a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR and a separate condition for processing under Article 9. These do not have to be linked. There are 10 conditions for processing special category data in Article 9 of the UK GDPR. 5 of these require you to meet additional conditions and safeguards set out in UK law, in Schedule 1 of the DPA 2018. You must determine your condition for processing special category data before you begin this processing under the UK GDPR, and you should document it. In many cases you also need an ‘appropriate policy document’ in place in order to meet a UK Schedule 1 condition for processing in the DPA 2018. You need to complete a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) for any type of processing which is likely to be high risk. You must therefore be aware of the potential risks to individuals’ rights of processing the special category data. More information on special category data is available through the link in the supporting evidence and guidance below. Build capability To improve ethnicity data quality, you should dedicate resources to building capability in assessing, improving and communicating ethnicity statistics. You might do this through training and sharing best practice. The Government Analysis Function supports government analysts in this way through its training courses. It can support users in the wider community through its guidance hub. Protect the privacy and identity of individuals in your data at all times You must protect the privacy and identity of individuals in your ethnicity data at all times. This means during data: collection storage analysis reporting Be clear and open with people about how you will protect their ethnicity information. You should apply relevant security standards to keep data secure. If necessary, use disclosure control methods when releasing statistics such as not disclosing data based on a small number of people, or by rounding numbers. Supporting evidence and guidance ICO special category data: asking people about their ethnicity Regularly review your ethnicity data to ensure that it remains relevant You should understand the public debate on data about ethnicity. This will help ensure your statistics stay relevant to a changing society. You might sign up to newsletters, blogs and social media about ethnicity data and policy development for example, from: RDU ONS The UK Statistics Authority and OSR Your ethnicity analyses and reports should be regularly reviewed with users and other stakeholders. Stakeholders could include people in relevant ethnic minority groups. This will help you prioritise any development of the data. You might identify user needs that are not met or only partially met by how your ethnicity data is collected. You should consider how you can meet those needs in your work programme. This will involve working with stakeholders, relevant ethnic minority groups, and subject experts.
Read about quality in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
This section lists some of the important things for determining quality that you should consider when collecting, analysing, and reporting on ethnicity data.
It is not always possible to be definitive in some parts of the standards. For example, the size of a survey sample needed to produce reliable results will vary. This is because data quality is dependent on what you are analysing and the data you have available.
A dataset that is good quality for one analysis might not be good quality for another.
4.1 Data collection, reporting and analysis
Your ethnicity statistics should meet their intended uses and inform public debate Your ethnicity statistics should meet their intended uses. The statistics should inform public debate. You should seek to understand your user base and the questions that users want to answer with your ethnicity data. You should maintain and refresh your understanding of the use and potential use of the ethnicity statistics and data. You should consider the ways in which the statistics might be used and the nature of the decisions that are or could be informed by them. Your supporting commentary should provide clarity and insight. It should describe any assumptions. This will enable your users to draw the correct conclusions from your data. You can enhance your insight into your ethnicity data by consultation with subject experts. Users of ethnicity data are diverse and have different data needs. You should understand whether certain users have other specific requirements. This might include the availability of information in different languages. Enhance ethnicity statistics to meet new or evolving user needs You should identify any evolving or new user needs for ethnicity statistics. You should try and enhance the data that inform these statistics to meet the user’s needs. Where you cannot meet users’ needs, you should report why this is the case. You should also report anything in the existing data that will help these users. Report new ethnicity datasets to the ONS Equalities Data Audit You can increase the user value of data by adding new ethnicity data collections to the ONS Equalities Data Audit. Supporting evidence and guidance ONS Equalities Data Audit Make decisions about whether to continue, discontinue or adapt ethnicity data and statistics in discussion with users You should make decisions about whether to continue, discontinue or change ethnicity data and statistics in discussion with users. You should publish explanations of changes to ethnicity data collections. The explanations should include evidence of the rationale for the change. You should also publish any analysis that informs the change. Your decision-making processes should be transparent and open There may be times when you are unable to meet the requests of everyone who has an interest in your ethnicity statistics. In these cases, it is important to be open about your decision-making process. You should document evidence used to inform these decisions, particularly in relation to areas of contention. Supporting evidence and guidance GSS user engagement strategy
5.1 Collecting data
Collect ethnicity data in a respectful way – it should support public interest Understand what data can be legally collected about ethnicity, and comply with relevant legislation Build capability Protect the privacy and identity of individuals in your data at all times Regularly review your ethnicity data to ensure that it remains relevant Be clear about the importance of collecting ethnicity data At the start, think about the purposes for which you will use the ethnicity data you will collect Use qualitative evidence to improve your data collection Collect ethnicity data using the GSS harmonised standards, or more detailed groups that you can align with the harmonised standards Collect data on religion and national identity Ask people to report their own ethnicity Design data collections to increase response rates for different ethnic groups Design data collections to increase the representativeness of ethnic groups Use data linkage to improve ethnicity data quality Your ethnicity statistics should meet their intended uses and inform public debate Enhance ethnicity statistics to meet new or evolving user needs Report new ethnicity datasets to the ONS Equalities Data Audit Make decisions about whether to continue, discontinue or adapt ethnicity data and statistics in discussion with users Your decision-making processes should be transparent and open
5.2 Analysing data
Build capability Protect the privacy and identity of individuals in your data at all times Regularly review your ethnicity data to ensure that it remains relevant Consider the importance of analysing ethnicity data Weight survey data to correct for bias. You might include ethnicity as one of the weighting factors Use harmonised categories for analysing ethnicity data A person’s ethnicity can change over time and your analysis should take account of that Use appropriate comparators in your analysis Find out whether the geographic clustering of some ethnic groups has produced unusual or unexpected results Take other socio-economic and demographic factors in your data into account Take account of people who do not provide their ethnicity in your analysis Your ethnicity statistics should meet their intended uses and inform public debate Enhance ethnicity statistics to meet new or evolving user needs Make decisions about whether to continue, discontinue or adapt ethnicity data and statistics in discussion with users Your decision-making processes should be transparent and open
5.3 Reporting data
Build capability Protect the privacy and identity of individuals in your data at all times Regularly review your ethnicity data to ensure that it remains relevant Use data linkage to improve ethnicity data quality Consider the importance of reporting ethnicity data You should refer to ethnicity and not race Use GSS harmonised categories for reporting on ethnicity data Exercise caution if you are making international comparisons of ethnicity data Report potential biases to allow users to understand limitations in the ethnicity data, and how this impacts on the interpretation of your analysis Report measures of reliability so users can correctly understand and interpret the data You should try to report differences between ethnic groups that have been adjusted to take into account other socio-economic and demographic factors. You should consider ethnicity data along with data on other personal characteristics Be transparent in your reasons for using specific comparators Follow best practice when writing about ethnic groups – for example, the writing principles developed by RDU Your ethnicity statistics should meet their intended uses and inform public debate Enhance ethnicity statistics to meet new or evolving user needs Make decisions about whether to continue, discontinue or adapt ethnicity data and statistics in discussion with users Your decision-making processes should be transparent and open Public Sector Equality Duty. ↩ In the 2021 England and Wales Census, the aggregated groups were Asian, black, mixed, white, and other. ↩ Back to top
The Government Statistical Service (GSS) has a harmonised standard for ethnicity classification. The ethnic groups used in the harmonised standard and the latest Census are usually the...
Apr 17, 2023 · Collect ethnicity data using the GSS harmonised standards, or more detailed groups that you can align with the harmonised standards; Collect data on religion and national identity
- Introduction to collecting data on ethnic group, religion and national identity. Collecting data on ethnic group, religion and national identity can be complex because of the subjective and multifaceted nature of the concepts.
- Key legislation. This section provides a brief overview of the key legislation relating to ethnicity, national identity and religion. Equality Act 2010.
- Different aspects of ethnicity. Since ethnicity is a multifaceted and changing phenomenon, various possible ways of measuring ethnic groups are available and have been used over time.
- Ethnic group. Collecting data on ethnic group is complex because of the subjective, multifaceted and changing nature of ethnic identification. There is no consensus on what constitutes an ethnic group and membership is something that is self-defined and subjectively meaningful to the person concerned.
Apr 17, 2023 · These standards are designed to ensure more responsible and accurate reporting of ethnicity data. They describe best practice when collecting, analysing and reporting ethnicity data.
Mar 9, 2023 · The current ethnicity harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions across the UK. The questions were reviewed and adjusted so they could be used in the: 2021 Census for England...
