Ethnic Identity and the Census: The Case of the American Jewish Population


 

Publication Date: October 2008

Publisher: Institute of Contemporary Jewry

Author(s): Ira Rosenwaike

Research Area: Population and demographics

Keywords: American Jews; Demography; Identity formation

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

In Jewish Population Studies 19 (Papers in Jewish Demography, 1985), 11-22. In this paper the 1980 census query on ancestry is examined in order to determine whether it can provide proxy data useful to the study of the American Jewish population. It is found that despite the purposeful lack of established statistics some data may be derived, but these are of limited potential utility to researchers and must be viewed with proper caution.