Glossary

ELCA Research and Evaluation . . . where the church counts!

This glossary clarifies the meaning of the demographic information that is provided.

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AMERICAN INDIAN, ESKIMO OR ALEUT - Persons (based on self-identification) who indicated their race as American Indian, entered the name of an Indian tribe or reported entries such as Canadian Indian, French-American Indian, or Spanish American Indian; indicated their race as Eskimo, or reported entries such as Arctic Slope, Inupiat, and Yupik; indicated their race as Aleut, or reported entries such as Alutiq, Egegik, and Pribilovian.

ASIAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER - Persons (based on self-identification) who indicated, in the 1990 Census, their race as Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Asian Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Hawaiian, Guamanian, and Samoan. The category also included other Asian or Pacific Islander groups such as Tahitian, Northern Mariana Islander, Palauan, Fijian, Polynesian, Micronesian, Nepali and Tongan. In the 1980 Census, the Asian or Pacific Islander category included only Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Guamanian, and Samoan. The other groups e.g., Tahitian were classified with the other race category.

ARMED FORCES - Persons on active duty with the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.

AVERAGE FAMILY INCOME - The total of all income received in by all family members 15 years of age and older divided by the total number of families.

BLACK - Persons (based on self-identification) who indicated their race as Black or Negro, and including other groups such as African American, Afro-American, Black Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Nigerian, West Indian or Haitian.

CENSUS - Count or data about the population and housing of the United States gathered every ten years (e.g., 1980 and 1990) around April 1.

CIVILIAN EMPLOYED - Persons at work, or with a job but not at work during the week prior to the completion of their census form.

CIVILIAN UNEMPLOYED - Persons without a job, or those looking for work during the last four weeks (prior to the completion of their census form) and available to accept a job.

EMPLOYMENT STATUS - The labor force status of all persons 16 years of age and older during the week prior to the completion of their census form.

ESTIMATE - Latest population data (e.g., number of persons) based on the population data from the last census or other estimate, and other known or estimated changes resulting from fertility, mortality and migration.

FAMILY -  Two or more persons related by birth, marriage or adoption who live together in the same housing unit. Unrelated roomers, boarders, live-in employees, or other non-relatives residing with the family are not included as members of the family, but are included as members of the family household.

FAMILY HOUSEHOLD - A family, and any unrelated roomers, boarders, live-in employees, and other non-relatives who live together in the same housing unit.

GROUP QUARTERS - Persons in nonhousehold living

POPULATION - Arrangements (both institutional and noninstitutional) including military barracks, college dormitories, long-term health care facilities, group homes, boarding houses, prisons, ships and shelters.

HISPANIC - Persons (based on self-identification) who are descendants of the Spanish settlers in the Southwest; descendants of early immigrants from Mexico; recent immigrants and their descendants from Mexico; Cuban refugees and their descendants; Puerto Ricans; and immigrants and their descendants from Spain and Central and South America. Hispanic is a cultural identification and not a race category. Persons of Hispanic origin can be of any race.

HOUSEHOLD - One person, families, as well as persons who are unrelated to one another that live in a housing unit. A housing unit could be a house, apartment, mobile home, trailer, a group of rooms or a single room that is self-contained. The number of households in an area is equal to the number of occupied housing units.

HOUSEHOLDER - Any household member 15 years of age and older in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented.

HOUSEHOLD WEALTH - All assets minus all liabilities.

MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME - The median divides the family income into two equal parts; one half of all families have income above the median and one half have income below the median.

MEDIAN HOME VALUE - The median divides the value of housing units into two equal parts; one half of the units are above this value and one half are below. Home value is based on the respondent's own estimate of the current dollar value of the property. For vacant units, value is the price asked for the property. Single-family homes on 10 acres, mobile homes, residences with businesses or medical offices on the property, and housing units in multi-unit buildings are excluded.

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD - The median divides the household income

INCOME - into two equal parts; one half of all households have income above the median and one half have income below the median.

NONFAMILY HOUSEHOLD - One person living alone or unrelated persons living in the same housing unit.

NOT IN LABOR FORCE - Persons 16 years of age and older including students, homemakers, retired workers, seasonal workers counted in an off season who are not looking for work, institutionalized persons, and persons doing only incidental unpaid family work (less than 15 hours during the week prior to completing their census form).

OTHER RACE - Persons not included in the White, Black, American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut, and the Asian or Pacific Islander race categories. The category includes persons who indicated that they are other race, and groups such as multiracial, multiethnic, mixed, interracial, Mexican, Cuban or Puerto Rican.

PER CAPITA INCOME - The total of all income received by all household members 15 years of age and older divided by the total household population in that area.

PROJECTION - Future population data (e.g., number of persons) based on the population number from the last census or other estimate, and assumptions about the future course of birth, death and migration.

RACE - A social (and not scientific) classification of people. The categories sometimes reflect continent e.g., Asian, or nationality e.g., Chinese. The terms and categories have shifted over time in the United States to reflect contemporary social and political realities. For example, Italians were once considered as nonWhite; the 1890 census listed separately Negroes, mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons; and at the time of the 1900 Census Japanese and Chinese were the only sizeable group of Asians living in the United States. Currently, the major categories (based on self-identification) are White; Black; American Indian, Eskimo or Aleut; Asian or Pacific Islander; and other. Hispanic is not a racial category.

WHITE - Persons (based on self-identification) who indicated their race as White, and other groups such as Canadian, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab or Polish.

ZIP CODE - A five-digit number used by the U.S. Postal Service that identifies each postal delivery area in the United States. It is also treated as a geographical boundary area. Claritas (our data vendor) updates all changes in the zip code boundaries annually. When the boundary of a zip code changes between two periods (e.g., 1980 and 1990) the data are not wholly comparable.

If you have any questions about interpreting the information, call ELCA Research and Evaluation at 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2990.