With more than five years to go until the 2020 census, the U.S. Census Bureau is already busy testing updates to its survey. Those proposed changes have several civil rights groups concerned.

The main concern lies in the methodology of collecting more detailed information on race and ethnicity.

The bureau’s research behind the new effort began during the 2010 census. Terri Ann Lowenthal is with the civil rights group Leadership Conference Education Fund. She said the study’s design had several limitations that could impact its accuracy, including the fact that it was only conducted in mail-out-mail-back areas and mostly in English.                

"And so not included in that universe are American Indian reservations, remote communities and other special enumeration areas such as the colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border," Lowenthal said.

The U.S. Census Bureau is currently testing several new question formats including the addition of a separate question on race and ethnic origin as well as an updated marital status section.