The article below is a perfect example of how reallocation of “two or more” data are mistakenly re-tabulated by the U.S. Census Bureau and others. The ten individuals in the example should be “two or more” races, or preferably, “multiracial,” not five African American and five white. –Susan Graham
Methodology: How We Analyzed the Data on Race in N.H.’s Criminal Justice System
Source: New Hampshire Public Radio
Little research has been done in New Hampshire on race and the state’s 10 county jails, which are run by county government. No comprehensive data is available regarding these jails’ populations. But in our recent story, Racial Disparities Increase At Each Step Of N.H.’s Justice System, data provided to NHPR by the Valley Street Jail in Hillsborough County allows a glimpse into the details of who is incarcerated here, and why.
Here are the numbers behind our analysis.
CENSUS DATA
This analysis primarily uses the 2014 Census Population Estimates for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, and the United States.
Two or more races
The 19,074 people who identify as “two or more races” in New Hampshire present a wrinkle, however, as the jail and arrest data does not have a corresponding category. To accommodate this discrepancy, a distribution is created from the more detailed 2010 decennial Census, and then applied to the 2014 estimated total for individuals identifying with “two or more” races. The counts are distributed evenly among mixed races. For example, if 10 individuals identify as both African American and white in 2010, the “white” category receives 5, and the “African American” category receives 5. If, hypothetically, there were 100 people counted in the “two or more” category in 2010, and 110 in 2014, these would be counted as 5.5 additional whites and 5.5 additional African Americans for the final totals.