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The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity (2004)

Chapter: Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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Appendix I

Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments

Every modern decennial census has included a program of formal evaluation studies intended to assess the quality of census operations and the resulting data. This appendix lists the evaluation studies planned in conjunction with the 2000 census and gives information on their status (notation if the studies were cancelled, citation information if they have been completed and released). It also briefly describes the experiments that were conducted in 2000.

I.1 CENSUS 2000 EVALUATIONS

The Census Bureau’s original plan of evaluations for the 2000 census was very ambitious, including 149 studies. The Panel on Research on Future Census Methods reviewed the early evaluation plan in its first interim report (National Research Council, 2000a), and in a subsequent letter report (National Research Council, 2001c) urged the Census Bureau to “give high priority to evaluation studies and data analyses that are important to building an overall 2010 census framework.”

Subsequently, in at least two major waves (early and late 2002), the evaluation program “was refined and priorities reassessed due to resource constraints at the Census Bureau” (U.S. Census Bureau,

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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2003a). As a result, dozens of studies were cancelled, reducing the total list of studies from 149 to 91. Eighteen planned studies were “cancelled” from the evaluation program because they were expedited and completed as part of the Executive Steering Committee for A.C.E. Policy (ESCAP) report series, as support for the Census Bureau’s decisions on census adjustment in March and October 2001. The remaining studies were cancelled by the Census Bureau in an “[attempt] to obtain the best balance of resources” between “completing and releasing Census 2000 data products” and “conducting key Census 2000 evaluations” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003a).

Response Rates and Behavior Analysis (Series A)

A.1.a: Telephone Questionnaire Assistance Operational Analysis (Chesnut, 2003b)

A.1.b: Telephone Questionnaire Assistance Customer Satisfaction Survey (Stevens, 2002)

A.2.a: Internet Questionnaire Assistance Operational Analysis: Cancelled, early 2002

A.2.b: Internet Data Collection Operational Analysis (Whitworth, 2002)

A.2.c: Census 2000 Internet Web Site and Questionnaire Customer Satisfaction Survey (Stapleton and Irwin, 2002)

A.3: Be Counted Campaign for Census 2000 (Carter, 2002)

A.4: Language Program—Use of Non-English Questionnaires and Guides (Smith and Jones, 2003)

A.5.a: Census 2000 Response Methods for Selected Language Groups (Lestina, 2003)

A.5.b: Awareness and Participation in the Census 2000 Language Assistance Programs Among Selected Language Groups [not yet released]

A.6.a: U.S. Postal Service Undeliverable Rates for Census 2000 Mailout Questionnaires (Kohn, 2003)

A.6.b: Detailed Reasons for Undeliverability of Census 2000 Mailout Questionnaires by the USPS (Chesnut, 2003a)

A.7.a: Census 2000 Mailback Response Rates (Stackhouse and Brady, 2003a)

A.7.b: Census 2000 Mail Return Rates (Stackhouse and Brady, 2003b)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×

A.8: Puerto Rico Focus Groups on Why Households Did Not Mail Back the Census 2000 Questionnaire (Berkowitz, 2002)

Content and Data Quality (Series B)

B.1.a: Analysis of the Imputation Process for 100 Percent Household Population Items (Zajac, 2003)

B.1.b: Analysis of Item Nonresponse Rates for 100 Percent Household Population Items (Norris, 2003)

B.2: Documentation of Characteristics and Data Quality by Response Type: Cancelled, early 2002; some material incorporated into B.1

B.3: Census Quality Survey to Evaluate Responses to the Census 2000 Question on Race (Bentley et al., 2003)

B.4: Match Study of Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation to Census to Compare Consistency of Race and Hispanic Origin Responses: Cancelled; material subsumed by ESCAP I report B-10 (Farber, 2001a)

B.5: Content Reinterview Survey: Accuracy of Data for Selected Population and Housing Characteristics as Measured by Reinterview (Singer and Ennis, 2002, 2003)

B.6: Master Trace Sample (Hill and Machowski, 2003)

B.7: Match Study of Current Population Survey to Census 2000 [not yet released]

B.8: Comparisons of Income, Poverty, and Unemployment Estimates Between Census 2000 and Three Census Demographic Surveys [not yet released]

B.9: Housing Measures Compared to the American Housing Survey: Cancelled, early 2002

B.10: Housing Measures Compared to the Residential Finance Survey: Cancelled, early 2002

B.11: American Community Survey Evaluation of Follow-Up, Edits, and Imputations: Cancelled; “available data cannot answer the specified questions for this study”

B.12: Puerto Rico Race and Ethnicity (Christenson, 2003)

B.13: Puerto Rico Focus Groups on the Race and Ethnicity Questions (Berkowitz, 2001)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
Data Products (Series C)

C.1: Effects of Disclosure Limitation on Data Utility in Census 2000 (Steel and Zayatz, 2003)

C.2: Usability Evaluation of User Interface With American FactFinder: Cancelled, early 2002; results of some focus group work summarized in separate document and presented at professional meetings

C.3: Data Products Strategy: Cancelled, early 2002, after some material had been shifted to C.2

Partnership and Marketing (Series D)

D.1: Partnership and Marketing Program (Wolter et al., 2002)

D.2: Census in Schools/Teacher Customer Satisfaction Survey (Macro International, 2002)

D.3: Survey of Partners/Partnership Evaluation (Westat, 2002c)

Special Places and Group Quarters (Series E)

E.1.a: Special Place/Group Quarters Facility Questionnaire—Operational Analysis: Cancelled, early 2002

E.1.b: Facility Questionnaire—CATI and PV (Stevens, 2003)

E.2: Special Place Local Update of Census Addresses: Cancelled, late 2002

E.3: Assess the Inventory Development Process for Service-Based Enumerations: Cancelled, mid-2002

E.4: Decennial Frame of Group Quarters and Sources [not yet released]

E.5: Group Quarters Enumeration (Jonas, 2002, 2003b)

E.6: Service-Based Enumeration (McNally, 2002)

Address List Development (Series F)

F.1: Impact of the Delivery Sequence File Deliveries on the Master Address File Through Census 2000 Operations: Cancelled, late 2002

F.2: Address Listing Operation and Its Impact on the Master Address File (Ruhnke, 2002)

F.3: Local Update of Census Addresses 1998 (Owens, 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×

F.4: Evaluation of the Census 2000 Master Address File Using Earlier Evaluation Data: Cancelled, early 2002

F.5: Block Canvassing Operation (Burcham, 2002)

F.6: Local Update of Census Addresses 1999 (Owens, 2002)

F.7: Criteria for the Initial Decennial Master Address File Delivery: Cancelled, early 2002

F.8: The Decennial Master Address File Update Rules: Cancelled, early 2002

F.9: New Construction Adds: Cancelled, early 2002; some material shifted to I.4

F.10: Update/Leave (Pennington, 2003)

F.11: Urban Update/Leave (Rosenthal, 2002b)

F.12: Update/Enumerate (Rosenthal, 2002a)

F.13: List/Enumerate (Zajac, 2002)

F.14: Overall Master Address File Building Process for Housing Units: Cancelled, early 2002; material subsumed by Address List Development Topic Report (Vitrano et al., 2003b)

F.15: Quality of the Geocodes Associated With Census Addresses (Ruhnke, 2003)

F.16: Block Splitting Operation for Tabulation Purposes (Green and Rothhaas, 2002)

Field Recruiting and Management (Series G)

G.1: Census 2000 Staffing Programs (Westat, 2002a,b)

G.2: Operation Control System: Cancelled as report in this series, moved to R.2.a

Field Operations (Series H)

H.1: Use of 1990 Data for Census 2000 Planning: Cancelled, early 2002; some material presented at professional meetings

H.2: Operational Analysis of Field Verification Operation for Non-ID Housing Units (Tenebaum, 2001)

H.3: Local Census Office Delivery of Census 2000 Mailout Questionnaires Returned by U.S. Postal Service With Undeliverable as Addressed Designation: Cancelled, early 2002

H.4: Questionnaire Assistance Centers for Census 2000 (Jones and Barrett, 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×

H.5: Nonresponse Follow-Up for Census 2000 (Moul, 2002)

H.6: Operational Analysis of Non-Type of Enumeration Area Tool Kit Methods: Cancelled; some material to be contained in separate research paper

H.7: Nonresponse Follow-Up Enumerator Training (Burt and Mangaroo, 2003)

H.8: Operational Analysis of Enumeration of Puerto Rico (McNally, 2003)

H.9: Local Census Office Profile (Imel, 2003)

H.10: Date of Reference for Respondents of Census 2000 (Carter and Brady, 2002)

Coverage Improvement (Series I)

I.1: Coverage Edit Follow-Up for Census 2000 (Sheppard, 2003)

I.2: Nonresponse Follow-Up Whole Household Usual Home Elsewhere Probe (Viator and Alberti, 2003)

I.3: Nonresponse Follow-Up Mover Probe (Keathley, 2003)

I.4: Coverage Improvement Follow-Up (Moul, 2003)

I.5: Coverage Gain from Coverage Questions on Enumerator Completed Questionnaire (Nguyen and Zelenak, 2003)

I.6: Coverage, Rostering Methods and Household Composition: A Comparative Study of the Current Population Survey and Census 2000: Cancelled, early 2002

Ethnographic Studies (Series J)

J.1: Coverage, Rostering Methods and Household Composition: A Comparative Study of the Current Population Survey and Census 2000: Cancelled, after having been reclassified under I.6

J.2: Ethnographic Social Network Tracing (Brownrigg, 2003)

J.3: Comparative Ethnographic Research on Mobile Populations (Hunter et al., 2003)

J.4: Colonias on the U.S./Mexico Border: Barriers to Enumeration in Census 2000 (de la Puente and Stemper, 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
Data Capture (Series K)

K.1.a: Data Capture Audit Resolution Process (Rosenthal, 2003a)

K.1.b: Quality of the Data Capture System and the Impact of Questionnaire Capture and Processing on Data Quality (Conklin, 2003)

K.1.c: Analysis of Data Capture System 2000 Keying Operations: Cancelled, early 2002

K.1.d: Synthesis of Results from K.1.a, K.1.b, and K.1.c: Cancelled, subsumed by topic report

K.2: Analysis of the Interaction Between Aspects of Questionnaire Design, Printing, and Completeness With Data Capture: Cancelled, early 2002; some material shifted to K.1.a and K.1.b

K.3: Impact of Data Capture Errors on Autocoding, Clerical Coding and Autocoding Referrals in Industry and Occupation Coding [not yet released]

K.4: Performance of the Data Capture System 2000: Cancelled, early 2002; some material contained in Titan Corporation (2003) and R.3.d

Processing Systems (Series L)

L.1: Invalid Return Detection

L.2: Decennial Response File Stage 2 Linking and Setting of Expected Household Population (Rosenthal, 2003b)

L.3.a: Analysis of Primary Selection Algorithm Results (Operational Assessment) (Baumgardner, 2002)

L.3.b: Resolution of Multiple Census Returns Using Reinterview (Baumgardner, 2003)

L.4: Census Unedited File Creation (Jonas, 2003a)

L.5: Beta Site (Titan Systems Corporation, 2003)

Quality Assurance Evaluations (Series M)

M.1: Evaluation of the Census 2000 Quality Assurance Philosophy and Approach Used for the Address List Development and Enumeration Operations (Morganstein et al., 2003)

M.2: Effectiveness of Existing Variables in the Model Used to Detect Discrepancies During Reinterview, and the Identification of New Variables (Johanson, 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Survey Operations (Series N)

N.1: Contamination of Census Data Collected in A.C.E. Blocks (Bench, 2002)

N.2: Analysis of Listing Future Construction and Multi-Units in Special Places: Cancelled, early 2002

N.3: Analysis of Relisted Blocks: Cancelled, early 2002

N.4: Analysis of Blocks With No Housing Unit Matching: Cancelled, early 2002

N.5: Analysis of Blocks Sent Directly for Housing Unit Follow-Up: Cancelled, early 2002

N.6: Analysis of Person Interview With Unresolved Housing Unit Status: Cancelled, early 2002

N.7: Analysis on the Effects of Census Questionnaire Data Capture in A.C.E.: Cancelled, early 2002

N.8: Analysis of the Census Residence Questions Used in A.C.E.: Cancelled; material subsumed by ESCAP report B-16 (Stiers, 2000)

N.9: Analysis of the Person Interview Process: Cancelled; material subsumed by ESCAP report B-5 (Feindt and Byrne, 2000)

N.10: Discrepant Results in A.C.E. (Krejsa, 2003)

N.11: Extended Roster Analysis: Cancelled, early 2002

N.12: Matching Stages Analysis: Cancelled; subsumed by ESCAP report B-6 (Childers et al., 2001)

N.13: Analysis of Unresolved Codes in Person Matching: Cancelled; some material subsumed by ESCAP report B-11 (Starsinic et al., 2001)

N.14: Evaluation of Matching Error (Bean, 2002)

N.15: Outlier Analysis in the 2000 A.C.E.: Cancelled, early 2002

N.16: Impact of Targeted Extended Search: Cancelled; some material shifted to N.17

N.17: Targeted Extended Search Block Cluster Analysis (Wolfgang et al., 2002)

N.18: Effect of Late Census Data on Final Estimates: Cancelled; some material subsumed by ESCAP II report 13 (Raglin, 2001)

N.19: Field Operations and Instruments for A.C.E. (Green et al., 2003)

N.20: Group Quarters Analysis: Cancelled, early 2002

N.21: Analysis of Mobile Homes: Cancelled, early 2002

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
Coverage Evaluations of the Census and of the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Survey (Series O)

O.1: Type of Enumeration Area Summary: Cancelled, early 2002

O.2: Coverage of Housing Units in the Early Decennial Master Address File: Cancelled, early 2002

O.3: Census 2000 Housing Unit Coverage Study (Barrett et al., 2003)

O.4: Analysis of Conflicting Households (Liu et al., 2002)

O.5: Analysis of Proxy Data in the A.C.E. (Wolfgang et al., 2003)

O.6: P-Sample Nonmatches Analysis: Cancelled; some material subsumed by Wolfgang et al. (2001)

O.7: Analysis of Person Coverage in Puerto Rico: Cancelled, early 2002

O.8: Analysis of Housing Unit Coverage in Puerto Rico: Cancelled, early 2002

O.9: Geocoding Error Analysis: Cancelled; some material subsumed by Feldpausch (2002) and Keathley et al. (2001)

O.10: Housing Unit Duplication in Census 2000 (Jones, 2003a)

O.11: E-Sample Erroneous Enumeration Analysis: Cancelled; some material subsumed by Feldpausch (2002)

O.12: Analysis of Nonmatches and Erroneous Enumerations Using Logistic Regression: Cancelled; some material subsumed by Beaghen et al. (2001)

O.13: Analysis of Various Household Types and Long Form Variables: Cancelled, late 2002

O.14: Measurement Error Reinterview Analysis: Cancelled; some material subsbumed by Adams and Krejsa (2001); Krejsa and Raglin (2001)

O.15: Impact of Housing Unit Coverage on Person Coverage Analysis: Cancelled; some material covered by Robinson and Wolfgang (2002)

O.16: Person Duplication in Census 2000; revised to Person Duplication in the Search Area Measured by the 2000 Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (Jones, 2003b)

O.17: Analysis of Households Removed Because Everyone in the Household Is Under 16 Years of Age: Cancelled, early 2002

O.18: Synthesis of What We Know About Missed Census People: Cancelled, early 2002

O.19: Analysis of Deleted and Added Housing Units in Census 2000 Measured by the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (Smith et al., 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×

O.20: Consistency of Census Estimates with Demographic Benchmarks (Adlakha et al., 2003)

O.21: Implications of Net Census Undercount on Demographic Measures and Program Uses: Cancelled, prior to February 2001

O.22: Evaluation of Housing Units Coded as Erroneous Enumerations: Cancelled, after having been added after February 2001; some material subsumed by Adams and Liu (2001)

O.23: Analysis of Insufficient Information for Matching and Follow-Up: Cancelled, after having been added after February 2001; some material subsumed by Feldpausch (2002)

O.24: Evaluation of Lack of Balance and Geographic Errors Affecting Person Estimates: Cancelled, after having been added after February 2001; some material subsumed by Adams and Liu (2001)

O.25: Mover Analysis: Cancelled, after having been added after February 2001; some material subsumed by Liu et al. (2001)

O.26: Analysis of Balancing in the Targeted Extended Search: Cancelled, after having been added after February 2001; some material subsumed by Hogan (2001a) and Adams and Liu (2001)

Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Survey Statistical Design and Estimation (Series P)

P.1: Measurement of Bias and Uncertainty Associated With Application of the Missing Data Procedures: Cancelled; some material subsumed by Keathley et al. (2001)

P.2: Synthetic Design Research/Correlation Bias: Cancelled, early 2002

P.3: Variance of Dual System Estimates and Adjustment Factors: Cancelled; some material subsumed by Starsinic et al. (2001)

P.4: Overall Measures of A.C.E. Quality: Cancelled

P.5: Total Error Analysis: Cancelled, early 2002

Organization, Budget, and Management Information System (Series Q)

Q.1: Management Processes and Systems of the 2000 Decennial Census (IBM Business Consulting Services, 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
Automation of Census Processes (Series R)

R.1.a: Telephone Questionnaire Assistance (Titan Systems Corporation, 2001d)

R.1.b: Coverage Edit Follow-Up (Titan Systems Corporation, 2001a)

R.1.c: Internet Questionnaire Assistance (Titan Systems Corporation, 2001c)

R.1.d: Internet Data Collection (Titan Systems Corporation, 2001b)

R.2.a: Operations Control System 2000 (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002g)

R.2.b: Laptop Computers for Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002d)

R.2.c: Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation 2000 Control System (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002a)

R.2.d: Matching and Review Coding System for the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002f)

R.3.a: Pre-Appointment Management System/Automated Decennial Administrative Management System (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002h)

R.3.b: American FactFinder (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002b)

R.3.c: Management Information System 2000 (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002e)

R.3.d: Census 2000 Data Capture (Titan Systems Corporation, 2002c)

I.2 CENSUS 2000 EVALUATION TOPIC REPORTS

The Census Bureau issued a series of “topic reports,” which were intended to synthesize the results of multiple individual-topic evaluations. The evaluation studies referenced in those topic reports were to be made public at the same time that the topic report was made public. Topic reports began to be issued in summer 2003.

The topic reports are:

  • Address List Development (Vitrano et al., 2003b,a)

  • Automation of Census 2000 Processes (Dawson and Stoudt, 2003)

  • Content and Data Quality (Schneider, 2003, 2004)

  • Coverage Improvement (Clark and Moul, 2003)

  • Coverage Measurement (Petroni and Childers, 2003)

  • Data Capture (Titan Corporation, 2003)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
  • Data Collection (Hough and Borsa, 2003)

  • Data Processing (Alberti, 2003)

  • Ethnographic Studies (de la Puente, 2004)

  • Partnership and Marketing Program (Edwards and Wilson, 2003)

  • Privacy Research in Census 2000 (Singer, 2003)

  • Puerto Rico (Hovland and Buckley-Ess, 2003)

  • Race and Ethnicity (del Pinal, 2003)

  • Response Rates and Behavior Analysis (Treat, 2003)

  • Special Places and Group Quarters (Abramson, 2003)

I.3 CENSUS 2000 EXPERIMENTS

Census 2000 Alternative Questionnaire Experiment (AQE2000)

This experiment used additional mailings and reinterview studies to manipulate three questionnaire design components:

  • Presentation of residence rules on the short form: Does providing a brief, reformatted version of the rules improve data quality?

  • Comparing the 1990 and 2000 census presentation of race and Hispanic origin questions: The two censuses presented the questions in slightly different ways (see Figures 8.1 and 8.2), not only in wording but also in format and design.

  • Design of “skip to” and “go to” instructions in the census long form: Determine whether respondents were able to navigate through the paper question correctly and efficiently.

The results are reported in Gerber et al. (2002); Martin (2002); Redline et al. (2002); Martin et al. (2003).

Administrative Records Census 2000 Experiment (AREX 2000)

Initial planning for the 2000 census included experimentation with an administrative records census as a possible way to save costs; the idea had been raised but not endorsed by National Research Council (1995b:Ch.4) and National Research Council (1999b:Ch.5). The AREX 2000 experiment assembled national-level administrative records (unduplicated using Social Security Numbers) and assigned

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×

block-level geographic codes. Records for the five selected test sites were then extracted and tallied at the census block level. A separate branch of the experiment sought to reconcile administrative records with the Master Address File to generate block-level population and housing unit counts.

The results of the experiment are reported in Bauder and Judson (2003); Berning and Cook (2003); Berning (2003); Heimovitz (2003); Judson and Bye (2003).

Social Security Number, Privacy Attitudes, and Notification Experiment (SPAN)

Related to the administrative records research, the SPAN experiment probed for behavioral and attitudinal data on public response to queries for their Social Security Numbers (SSNs) on census questionnaires. The experiment also tested public response to variations in wording in notices about Census Bureau use of administrative records, as well as surveying public concerns about privacy and confidentiality raised by use of administrative records.

The results of the experiment are reported in Brudvig (2003); Guarino et al. (2001); Trentham and Larwood (2003).

Response Mode and Incentive Experiment (RMIE)

This experiment studied the effectiveness of three electronic modes of data collection:

  • Operator telephone interview: Also known as reverse computer-assisted telephone interview (Reverse CATI); respondents were encouraged to call a toll-free telephone number, at which time a telephone interviewer administered the questionnaire.

  • Computer telephone interview: Also known as the Automated Spoken Questionnaire; respondents were asked to call a toll-free telephone number, at which time the short-form questionnaire was administered by interactive voice response (an automated system).

  • Internet: Respondents were encouraged to answer the questionnaire using a Web address provided in a cover letter.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×

The experiment also tested the impact on response of offering an incentive for completing the questionnaire (specifically, a telephone calling card valid for 30 minutes of free long-distance calling).

The results were reported in Caspar (2003); Guarino (2001); Schneider et al. (2002).

Census 2000 Supplementary Survey

The Census 2000 Supplementary Survey extended pilot work on the American Community Survey (ACS), the Census Bureau’s planned continuous measurement survey to replace the census long form in 2010. In addition to data collection in 36 ongoing ACS test sites, the Supplementary Survey extended data collection to 1,203 additional counties. The Census 2000 Supplementary Survey was conducted as an experiment, with the intent of determining whether it is feasible to collect long-form-census data at the same time, but in a separate process from, the decennial census data collection. The Census Bureau concluded that this simultaneous collection is feasible and that ACS work is feasible for a full national sample; the results are reported in Griffin and Obenski (2001).

Privacy Schemas and Data Collection: An Ethnographic Account

The goal of the experiment was to collect qualitative and attitudinal data on survey participation and response, including further probing of privacy concerns and elaborating reasons for choosing to participate in survey data collections. The results of the study are in Gerber (2003).

Complex Households and Relationships in the Decennial Census and Demographic Surveys (Ethnographic Studies)

This ethnographic research project assembled six teams to study how well census methods, questions, and categories matched the diversity and experience of modern households. The six teams targeted particular ethnic or race groups: African Americans, Hispanics, Inupiaq Eskimos, Koreans, Navajos, and whites. The results are reported in Schwede (2003).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
×
Generation X Speaks Out on Censuses, Surveys, and Civic Engagement: An Ethnographic Approach (Ethnographic Studies)

This ethnographic study was intended to probe the civic engagement and attitude toward censuses (and surveys in general) among the Generation X population, those born between 1968 and 1979. Within this age cohort, differences by other factors—socioeconomic background, ethnicity, immigrant status, and so forth—were also considered. Members of the subsequent Millenial generation (14–18 years of age) were also interviewed for comparison. The results are reported in Crowley (2003).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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Page 509
Suggested Citation:"Appendix I: Census 2000 Evaluations and Experiments." National Research Council. 2004. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10907.
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The decennial census was the federal government’s largest and most complex peacetime operation. This report of a panel of the National Research Council’s Committee on National Statistics comprehensively reviews the conduct of the 2000 census and the quality of the resulting data. The panel’s findings cover the planning process for 2000, which was marked by an atmosphere of intense controversy about the proposed role of statistical techniques in the census enumeration and possible adjustment for errors in counting the population. The report addresses the success and problems of major innovations in census operations, the completeness of population coverage in 2000, and the quality of both the basic demographic data collected from all census respondents and the detailed socioeconomic data collected from the census long-form sample (about one-sixth of the population). The panel draws comparisons with the 1990 experience and recommends improvements in the planning process and design for 2010. The 2000 Census: Counting Under Adversity will be an invaluable resource for users of the 2000 data and for policymakers and census planners. It provides a trove of information about the issues that have fueled debate about the census process and about the operations and quality of the nation’s twenty-second decennial enumeration.

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