Based on the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). Data includes individual proprietorships, partnerships and subchapter S corporations. Detail may not add to total due to rounding] For description of data collection, see summary below

WOMEN- AND MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS SURVEYS PURPOSE To provide periodic data that count and describe businesses owned by women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups. The United States Code, Titles 13 and 26, authorizes these data collections and provides for mandatory responses. COVERAGE Firms that are at least one-half owned by women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Native Americans, or other minorities; file tax forms for individual proprietorships (Form 1040, Schedule C), partnerships (Form 1065) or subchapter S corporations #REF! postal service, membership orgainizations, private households, and governments (SIC 01, 02, 40, 43, 86, 88 and 90-97). For 1992, coverage of women-owned firms expanded to include ""C"" corporations (businesses that file Form 1120) whose stock is more than one-half owned by women. In 1987, covered women- and minority-owned businesses had sales or receipts of nearly $338 billion. CONTENT Data compiled or collected include the sex, race, and ethnicity of business owners; and business location, SIC classification, form of organization, sales or receipts, employment and annual payroll. FREQUENCY Every 5 years since 1972, for years ending in ""2"" and ""7"" as part of the economic censuses. The program began with special project data for minority-owned businesses for 1969; several changes in scope and methods may affect data comparability for subsequent program years. The survey to collect additional information about business owners begins about 9 months after the census calendar year, and continues for about 1 year. METHODS A firm-based compilation of information from 4 sources: owner and business identification, and selected business data from income tax records; gender, Black and other sole proprietor characteristics from social security records; additional owner characteristics from a mail-out/mail-back stratified sample survey of 1.1 million firms; and selected business data from the economic censuses. Owners are identified, and program data are developed, by cross-referencing information from the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, and Census Bureau. Each tax form is treated as a separate ""firm (individuals may file more than one form), and determinations are made regarding firm ownership and owners' sex and minority status. For 1992, the separate sample survey supplemented available information for business owners. Questions for sole proprietors identified specific minority groups for non-Black owners that were not in a prior women- or minority-owned business survey. Questions for partners and owners of subchapter S corporations identified those entities that were women- and minority-owned, and questions for owners of ""C"" corporations identified those that were women-owned.