Counting People in the Information Age (1994) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Preliminary Census Design Issues
2 Preliminary Census Design Issues
Pages 30-46
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 30... ...
ADDRESS LIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED ACTIVITIES Virtually all fundamental design changes contemplated for the 2000 census depend on the existence of an accurate list of residential addresses. Historically, the address list for a decennial census has served only limited purposes after census operations are completed.
|
From page 31... ...
2. Match the reformatted 1990 address file to a primary source of new address information, such as the delivery sequence file from the Postal Service.
|
From page 32... ...
MAF/TIGER Benefits for the Decennial Census and Other Programs Lists containing address information but without names of residents or other personal data-support several stages of decennial census operations, including distribution of mail questionnaires, follow-up of nonresponding households, and measurement of population coverage. The MAF/TIGER system would support several fundamental census design changes being considered in the 1995 census test to reduce census costs and eliminate differentials in census coverage.
|
From page 33... ...
Integrated coverage measurement procedures will be needed to complete census coverage of .
|
From page 34... ...
Potential USPS involvement in census-taking extends beyond address list development. One of the more promising options is to use information supplied by local letter carriers during census mailout to identify vacant and nonexistent
|
From page 35... ...
. At a minimum, regional Census Bureau staff would use reference materials (e.g., maps, address lists)
|
From page 36... ...
Needs for record linkage arise when address lists and other administrative records are used, when people are given multiple opportunities to respond to the census, and when dual-system estimation is used as part of a coverage measurement program. Historically, an initial match has been performed by a computer algorithm, followed by clerical verification and resolution.
|
From page 37... ...
Matching may also be needed to obtain telephone numbers during follow-up of nonresponding households. Record linkage technology will also support the development of an administrative records database for the 1995 census test sites (see also Chapter 5~.
|
From page 38... ...
accessing administrative records for statistical purposes. Census Reference Date April 1 is mandated as the reference census date by Title 13 of the U.S.
|
From page 39... ...
This consideration could apply, for example, to any proposed methodology for integrated coverage measurement (see Chapter 4~. Maintaining the December 31 and March 31 deadlines with an earlier census reference date (the current legislative proposal)
|
From page 40... ...
The ability to forge stronger cooperative relationships has sometimes been hindered by the perception that there is a one-way flow of information to the Census Bureau without reciprocal benefits to the cooperative party. This perception has been reinforced by a Supreme Court ruling that address lists without any individually identifiable data that are collected and recorded by the Census Bureau become confidential under Section 9 of Title 13 and therefore may only be seen by sworn employees of the Census Bureau.
|
From page 41... ...
Access to Administrative Records for Statistical Purposes Chapter 5 discusses potential uses of administrative records in the decennial census and related demographic programs. The panel is concerned that research and development to expand the use of administrative records for census purposes with potential benefits for improved accuracy and lower cost-might be impeded by unnecessary restrictions on access to some of the administrative record systems that offer the greatest promise for such use.
|
From page 42... ...
A recent letter to the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Census, Statistics, and Postal Personnel from the Committee on National Statistics (Bradburn, 1994) distinguished research and statistical uses of administrative records, which are not concerned about specific individuals, from regulatory, administrative, and enforcement uses, which do affect specific individuals.
|
From page 43... ...
The targeting model would establish a more formal structure for such applications. Beyond the tool-kit methods discussed in Chapter 3, targeting efforts might be useful for other census operations, particularly the development of address lists and administrative record databases.
|
From page 44... ...
If the special method improves coverage for these poststrata, then the statistical estimation procedure used in integrated coverage measurement will find correspondingly higher levels of coverage than it otherwise would have found, and it can properly account for the effects in producing population estimates. It is possible that the special method would be more effective in some urbanized areas than others, just as the census without special methods has better coverage in some areas than others, but there would not be a predictable bias.
|
From page 45... ...
Of course, as in past censuses, the actual degree of uniformity attained will be limited by practical constraints. Paradoxically, the Census Bureau's improved capabilities and success in tracking census operations, together with growing knowledge and awareness about factors that may affect differential undercount, create a climate in which even more than usual care must be given to avoid any appearance of arbitrariness ~ .
|
From page 46... ...
Attention must be given to defining residency consistently throughout all stages of census operations: questionnaire mailing and questionnaire return and subsequent nonresponse follow-up and coverage measurement activities. The definition of residency is particularly critical for coverage measurement programs (see Chapter 4)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.