With the release of detailed population numbers from the 2000 Census, the debate begins about what these numbers really mean. The following demographers, sociologists, and psychologists from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, the world’s largest academic survey and research organization, are available to provide context and background for the new U.S. Census numbers, including the first official count of the country’s multiracial population.

• U-M sociologist David R. Harris (www.allharris.com) is available to discuss the implications of the multiracial population data. He has studied how context affects self-identification of race, and has analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of approximately 20,000 adolescents who were asked about their racial identity twice—once at school and once at home. He found that nearly 7 percent said they were mixed race at school, while just 3.5 percent identified themselves as mixed race when they were asked the question at home—a finding that suggests just how malleable mixed-racial identity
• U-M demographer Reynolds Farley, who has studied the rising rates of interracial marriage, has analyzed the prevalence and geographic patterns of the nation’s interracial population, based on the Census dress rehearsal and the American Community Surveys. Farley can also discuss the implications of the unexpectedly large census count, and the use of adjusted numbers versus actual enumeration. Contact him at (734) 998-8698 or by e-mail to [email protected].
• U-M demographer Bill Frey (www.frey-demographer.org) is available to discuss a wide range of population issues. The author of “The New Urban Demographics: Race, Space and Aging Boomers” and many other analysis of population trends, Frey is also a senior research fellow at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. Contact Frey (pronounced Fry) at (888) 257-7244 or e-mail [email protected]. Established in 1948, the Institute for Social Research (ISR) is among the world’s oldest survey research organizations, and a world leader in the development and application of social science methodology. ISR conducts some of the most widely-cited studies in the nation, including the Survey of Consumer Attitudes, the National Election Studies, the Monitoring the Future Study, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Health and Retirement Study, and the National Survey of Black Americans. ISR researchers also collaborate with social scientists in more than 60 nations on the World Values Surveys and other projects, and the Institute has established formal ties with universities in Poland, China, and South Africa. Visit the ISR Web site at www.isr.umich.edu for more information.