The Classification of Subnations in Hawaii: An Essay in the Sociology of Knowledge

The ethnic composition of Hawaii's population is too complex to suggest a schedule of simple designations in the classificatory system. In the successive censuses both before and after annexation by the United States, a number of quite different criteria have been used to identify racial units. This record thus affords us an excellent basis for determining what factors, apart from the objective characteristics of the subpopulations themselves, shape official decisions on the principles of racial classification.