Differences among Hispanics by Choice of Survey Language

Gladys M. Martinez, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC
Barbara V. Marin, Center for Aids Prevention Studies, UCSF

This paper compares the characteristics and behaviors of Hispanics who responded to Cycles 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth in Spanish with those that responded in English. Given the growth of the Hispanic population and the high percent who do not speak English very well, surveys that do not interview in Spanish may be missing a sizeable proportion of Hispanics. This paper will shed light on the extent to which estimates for English speaking Hispanics may not be representative of the total Hispanic population. Data were collected based on interviews with 12,571 men and women 15-44 years of age in the civilian non-institutional population of the United States in 2002. This report is based on the sample of 2,713 Hispanics. The response rate for the survey was 79 percent. Results cannot be included here until the public use file is released in late October.