The data on sex were derived from answers to Question 1. Individuals were asked to mark either "male" or "female" to indicate their sex. For most cases in which sex was not reported, the appropriate entry was determined from the person's given (i.e., first) name and household relationship. Otherwise, sex was imputed according to the relationship to the householder and the age of the person.

The data on age were derived from answers to Question 2. The age classification is based on the age of the person in complete years at the time of interview. Both age and date of birth are used in combination to calculate the most accurate age at the time of the interview. Inconsistently reported and missing values are assigned or imputed based on the values of other variables for that person, from other people in the household, or from people in other households ("hot deck" imputation). Data on age are used to determine the applicability of other questions for a particular individual and to classify other characteristics in tabulations. Age data are needed to interpret most social and economic characteristics used to plan and analyze programs and policies. Therefore, age data are tabulated by many different age groupings, such as 5-year age groups.

The data on citizenship status were derived from answers to Question 8. The responses to this question were used to determine the U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen populations as well as to determine the native and foreign-born populations. Respondents were asked to select one of five categories:
(1) born in the United States,
(2) born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Northern Marianas,
(3) born abroad of U.S. citizen parent or parents,
(4) U.S. citizen by naturalization, or
(5) not a U.S citizen. Respondents indicating they are a U.S. citizen by naturalization are also asked to print their year of naturalization. People born in American Samoa, although not explicitly listed, are included in the second response category.

For the Puerto Rico Community Survey, respondents were asked to select one of five categories:
(1) born in Puerto Rico,
(2) born in a U.S. state, District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Northern Marianas,
(3) born abroad of U.S. citizen parent or parents,
(4) U.S. citizen by naturalization, or
(5) not a U.S. citizen. Respondents indicating they are a U.S. citizen by naturalization are also asked to print their year of naturalization. People born in American Samoa, although not explicitly listed, are included in the second response category.

When no information on citizenship status was reported for a person, information for other household members, if available, was used to assign a citizenship status to the respondent. All cases of nonresponse that were not assigned a citizenship status based on information from other household members were allocated the citizenship status of another person with similar characteristics who provided complete information. In cases of conflicting responses, place of birth information is used to edit citizenship status. For example, if a respondent states he or she was born in Puerto Rico but was not a U.S. citizen, the edits use the response to the place of birth question to change the respondent's status to "U.S. citizen at birth."

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes "Asian Indian," "Chinese," "Filipino," "Korean," "Japanese," "Vietnamese," and "Other Asian."