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AAPI Data is partnering with the Associated Press’ NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to launch the first disaggregated monthly survey of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, who have been historically overlooked and/or misrepresented in public opinion polling.
The monthly survey, launching this month, will poll AAPIs on critical issues including their policy priorities, political views, and experiences with hate and discrimination.
- It will pull from the NORC and AARP’s Amplify AAPI panel, which features Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander participants who are surveyed and interviewed in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean.
Why it matters: “The AAPI community is incredibly diverse. Fully appreciating and understanding that diversity is essential for effective polling as well as policy making,” Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and director of AAPI Data, said in a press release.
Despite being one of the fastest-growing racial groups in the U.S., AAPIs remain largely invisible when it comes to public opinion polls, which serve as a pulse on critical topics like presidential candidates and inform efforts to engage voters of a specific demographic.
- AAPIs comprise about 3% of those represented in national polling even though AAPIs make up nearly 7% of the total U.S. population, according to Neil Ruiz, the associate director of race and ethnicity at Pew Research Center.
- Participation in such surveys has also stayed stagnant due to language barriers and a lack of trust and familiarity with pollsters.
- “Even in recent election years, sample sizes for Asian Americans have been relatively small, and sample sizes among Asian Americans two decades ago were too small to report trends from Asian Americans confidently,” Ruiz told ABC News’ Stacy Chen.
More importantly: The umbrella term of AAPI obscures key cultural and socioeconomic nuances among different ethnic groups, which face severe disparities in income, health, and education.
- “Experts say we have reached a point where maintaining the status quo of aggregated data validates the myth that AAPIs exist and move as one,” The Yappie’s Andrew Peng, Javan Santos, and Mary Yang reported last September.
- “Failing to install a coherent standard clouds our ability to track long-term trends which could unmask health disparities, close educational gaps, and illuminate centers of economic inequity most directly affecting NHPIs.”
In their words: “Comprehensive data that reflect the experiences and perspectives of all demographic groups are the foundation of high-quality public opinion polling and analyses,” Jennifer Benz, deputy director of the AP-NORC Center, said in a statement.
- “With this partnership, we are amplifying the voices of AAPI populations to address the historic underrepresentation of AAPI communities in public opinion and news stories.”
This story appeared as “The Big Story” in The Yappie’s Nov. 1, 2023 newsletter.
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