Referenced by 12 other explainers
Deficit-framing is reading a category as a judgement about people, rather than as a count of answers.
A Census category counts how people answered a question. It does not measure worth, need, or ability. For example, a Not stated row means the question was left blank or could not be sorted. It is a fact about the form, not about the person.
A broad label works the same way. A label like culturally and linguistically diverse groups many different people together. It is not a measure of need.
Read each category as a count of responses. It is one part of a picture, not a full description of a person or a community.