The State of Minority- and Women- Owned ... - Cleveland.com

Appendix A. Glossary
Hispanic: Refers to an individual of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American,
or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Independent variable: In a regression analysis, one or more variables that are postulated to
influence or explain the value of another, “dependent” variable. For example, in business owner
earnings regressions, business owner earnings is the dependent variable, and other variables,
such as industry, geographic location, or age, are the independent or explanatory variables. See
also “Dependent variable,” “Exogenous variable.”
MBE: Minority-Owned Business Enterprise. A business establishment that is 51 percent or more
owned and controlled by racial or ethnic minorities (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics,
Asian/Pacific Islanders, or Native Americans).
Mean: A term of art in statistics, synonymous in this context with the arithmetic average. For
example, the mean value of the series 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5 is 2.43. This is derived by calculating the
sum of all the values in the series (i.e., 17) and dividing that sum by the number of elements in
the series (i.e., 7).
Median: A term of art in statistics, meaning the middle value of a series of numbers. For
example, the median value of the series 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5 is 2.
Microdata or micro-level data: Quantitative data rendered at the level of the individual person
or business, as opposed to data rendered for groups or aggregates of individuals or businesses.
For example, Dun and Bradstreet provides micro-level data on business establishments. The
Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, provides grouped or aggregated data on businesses.
Misclassification: In the present context, this term refers to a situation when a listing or
directory of minority-owned or women-owned firms has incorrectly classified a firm’s race or
gender status. For example, when a firm listed as Hispanic-owned is actually African
American-owned, or when a firm listed as nonminority female-owned is actually nonminority
male-owned. See also “Nonclassification.”
MSA: Metropolitan Statistical Area. As defined by the federal Office of Management and
Budget, contains at least one urbanized area that has a total population of 50,000 or more, plus
adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as
measured by commuting ties.
NAICS: North American Industry Classification System. The standard system for classifying
industry-based data in the U.S. Superseded the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System in
1997. See also “SIC.”
Nonclassification: In the present context, this term refers to a type of misclassification when a
listing or directory has not identified firms as minority-owned or women-owned when, in fact,
they are. See “Misclassification.”
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