For the 2000 census, data capture of information on questionnaires was performed by scanning short-form and long-form returns into computer files and using optical mark and optical character recognition (OMR/OCR) to record the information. Clerks keyed data items from images when the automated technology could not read the responses. Keying of long-form-sample information was carried out in a second, separate process in order to permit the fastest possible completion of data capture for the basic items on all returns.

After data capture, long-form-sample records for households and their members could fall into one of two categories:

1. Long-Form Data-Defined At least one member of a household in the long-form sample was “long-form data-defined;” that is, at least one member had at least two long-form data items reported. All records for long-form data-defined households were retained in the sample. Any long-form housing or person items not reported, or reported inconsistently, had missing or consistent values supplied through item imputation, assignment, and editing. Imputations for any missing complete-count items that were performed during the basic data processing were retained (i.e., they were not reimputed during the long-form-sample processing).

2. Whole-Household Nonresponse Households that lacked any long-form data-defined persons were dropped from the sample. Weights were developed for long-form data-defined households and their members so that long-form-sample estimates agreed with complete-count totals on basic items. The weighting effectively adjusted for whole-household nonresponse.

In a procedure similar to that used in 1990, 2000 long-form-sample weights were developed to produce estimates for specified groups and geographic areas that agreed with estimates from the basic (complete-count) data records. A goal of the weighting was to

Front Matter (R1-R26)

Executive Summary (1-14)

1 Introduction and Overview (15-32)

2 Census Goals and Uses (33-70)

3 The Road to 2000 (71-96)

4 Assessment of 2000 Census Operations (97-156)

5 Coverage Evaluation: Methods and Background (157-184)

6 The 2000 Coverage Evaluation Program (185-268)

7 Assessment of Basic and Long-Form-Sample Data (269-302)

8 Race and Ethnicity Measurement (303-324)

9 Management and Research (325-338)

10 Detailed Findings and Recommendations (339-352)

Appendix A: Panel Activities and Prior Reports (353-374)

Appendix B: Questionnaire Items on the 2000 and 1990 Censuses and Census 2000 Supplementary Survey (375-378)

Appendix C: Census Operations (379-408)

Appendix D: Completeness of Census Returns (409-416)

Appendix E: A.C.E. Operations (417-432)

Appendix F: Methods for Treating Missing Data (433-454)

Appendix G: 2000 Census Basic (Complete-Count) Data Processing (455-468)

Appendix H: 2000 Census Long-Form-Sample Data Processing (469-494)

Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments (495-510)

Glossary and Abbreviations (511-532)

Bibliography (533-566)

Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff (567-572)

Index to Chapters 1-10 (573-595)