WRAP Data Dictionary: WRAPRaceAssignment
This article describes the logic used in generating the "WRAPRaceAssignment" calculated field.
There have been two questions asked of WRAP Participants in regards to their race or ethnic category.
The first question was asked early on in the "Entry Assessment Form" at their first Visit. The question was:
Which race or ethnic category best describes you? (Field: race)
1 American Indian / Native American
2 Asian3 Black / African American4 White / Caucasian5 Spanish / Hispanic6 OtherThis question was then followed up in the "Personal and Family Background" assessment of their second Visit
with the following question:
What is your race and ethnic background? Mark one or more to indicate what you consider yourself to be. (Field: Race_W2_Or_W1Post2016)
1 White2 Black / African American Spanish / Hispanic / Latino. If yes:3 Puerto Rican4 Mexican, Mexican American or Chicano5 Cuban6 Other Spanish / Hispanic / Latino (specify group: __________________________) (Field: RaceOth)7 American Indian or Alaska Native (specify enrolled or principal tribe: __________________________) (Field: RaceOth)8 Other (specify: __________________________) (Field: RaceOth)(Note: The "race", "Race_W2_Or_W1Post2016" and "RaceOth" fields are all present in the "Demographics" table.)
In 2016, the first question was no longer used, and the second question was moved to the Entry Assessment at Visit 1.
("Other Spanish / Hispanic / Latino (specify group: _______)",
"American Indian or Alaska Native (specify enrolled or principal tribe: ____________)" and
"Other (specify: ____________)" ), it was impossible to create SQL that would take into account all
of the possible responses, and determine a Race Assignment. So, all of the observed responses were
placed into a table, named "codRaceEthnicityDeterminations". For each observed combination of responses,
a "WRAP Race Assignment", "NIH Enrollment Form Assignment", "GAAIN Race Assignment" and
"GAAIN Ethnicity Assignment" were assigned by Sterling Johnson and Allen Wenzel.
A VBA function was created, named "FindParticipantRaceEthnicity", that is used in queries to return the
"WRAPRaceAssignment" for a WRAP Participant given their responses to the two race / ethnicity related
questions. This is the function that produces the values for the "WRAPRaceAssignment" variable in the
"MiscVars" table of the WRAP Data Freezes.
It should be noted that before each WRAP Data Freeze, the observed responses for the two race / ethnicity
questions for all WRAP Participants are compared to the entries in the "codRaceEthnicityDeterminations" table,
and additional table entries are added if new response combinations are observed.
Lastly, it should be noted that this process has some limitations. If in the second question above more than one
race or ethnicity was selected, and/or if the WRAP Participant answered both the first and second questions above,
and the responses differed, then the "WRAP Race Assignment", "NIH Enrollment Form Assignment",
"GAAIN Race Assignment" and "GAAIN Ethnicity Assignment" fields in the
"codRaceEthnicityDeterminations" table were assigned a single race / ethnicity value by Sterling Johnson and
Allen Wenzel based on their best professional judgement. If there is an interest in the component race / ethnicities
reported by the WRAP Participant, then the "race", "Race_W2_Or_W1Post2016" and "RaceOth" fields
in the "Demographics" table should be consulted directly.
If you have any questions about this, please contact Allen Wenzel of WRAP.