OBJECTIVE: To assess (1) the consistency between self-classifi ed and interviewer-classifi ed color/race according to socioeconomic and demographic variables and (2) the magnitude of the ethnic-racial inequalities of income and socioeconomic status using self-classifi ed and interviewer-classifi ed color/race.
METHODS:A cross-sectional population-based study was carried out among individuals of both sexes aged >20 years (N=3,353), living in the urban area of a city in Southern Brazil, in 2005. A two-stage sampling scheme was adopted and data collection was performed at participants' homes. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using standardized precoded questionnaires. The consistency between self-classifi ed and interviewer-classifi ed color/race was checked by means of concordance proportions and kappa statistics. Ethnic-racial inequalities of income and socioeconomic status were estimated using linear and ordinal logistic regression models, adjusting for sex, age and schooling.
RESULTS:The response rate was 93.5%. Despite the high reproducibility observed between self-classifi ed and interviewer-classifi ed color/race, a tendency towards whitening was seen among the interviewees. Self-classifi ed brown (pardo) and black individuals were 1.4 and 1.5 times more likely to be classifi ed as whites than as blacks and browns (pardos), respectively. Socioeconomically deprived strata presented higher kappa values. Ethnic-racial inequalities of income and socioeconomic status were found, and these were slightly greater using interviewer-classifi ed color/race.
CONCLUSIONS:Racial classifi cation presents a tendency towards the whitening of participants by interviewers. Browns (pardos) and blacks were socioeconomically disadvantaged in comparison with whites.