Modernizing the U.S. Census (1995) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 THE ROLE OF THE CENSUS
1 THE ROLE OF THE CENSUS
Pages 19-29
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From page 19... ...
The modern census in the United States is a complex series of operations, involving a long lead time for planning and a multitude of steps in execution. The basic methodology for recent censuses includes the following steps (variations in the process occur in some instances: for example, census enumerators deliver unaddressed questionnaires to rural households see Appendix B)
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From page 20... ...
The 1940 census was the first to have enumerators ask questions of a sample of the population; the 1960 census was the first to have the Postal Service deliver (unaddressed) questionnaires and initiated the use of separate, printed short and long forms (the latter containing additional items asked of a sample of households)
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From page 21... ...
Chapter 6 discusses issues related to the overall census content, including whether the long form, which goes to a sample of households, adversely affects the costs and coverage of the basic census and whether a system of continuing household mail surveys could replace the long form. Chapter 7 considers the needs for census data on the important content items of race and ethnicity and the problems associated with obtaining such data.
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From page 22... ...
Also, the Voting Rights Act, as originally enacted in 1965 and continued and amended several times since, has required the census to produce not only population counts by age but also data on race and ethnic origin at a very fine geographic level of detail. Although the Voting Rights Act and court decisions do not specify the census as the source of such data, the census (or a comparable replacement for it)
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From page 23... ...
Such a process could result in an increase in census content and, in any event, should not substitute for a decision process that makes deliberate trade-offs among agency needs, considered all together, and that takes into account the changing needs for data to inform current and emerging policy concerns as well as those from the past. Nonetheless, it is important to determine whether the census content is required to serve important federal policy and program purposes.
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From page 24... ...
Code require the Department of Agriculture Rural Development Administration to use census data on income for tracts and counties to allocate grant funds and determine loan interest rates for several assistance programs (e.g., the Emergency Community Water Assistance Program and the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program)
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From page 25... ...
, involve the basic census content on age, race, and sex. Other uses of census data by federal statistical agencies involve additional content items, for example: · The census address list serves as the sampling frame for many federal surveys, saving agencies the expense of developing such a frame (with the exception of areas of new construction)
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From page 26... ...
Other business uses for example, to help determine the best site for a plant or retail outlet by analyzing socioeconomic and demographic characteristics in different locations- serve public purposes indirectly by helping to make the best use of scarce investment dollars for expansion and redirection of business operations. Research uses of census data serve a public purpose by advancing knowledge that in turn often has policy implications.
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From page 27... ...
The trade-offs, in this case, involve costs, accuracy, and the acceptability of statistical adjustment. A second choice involves how to implement the basic requirements of court decisions mandating equality in population size of voting districts.
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From page 28... ...
Our conclusions on the merits of proposed changes in the census, including radical alternatives, fundamental reforms, and minor alterations, are based on several criteria. Most important among them are the following: · Information content and statistical quality.
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From page 29... ...
3 People do pay some minimal amount for census data at present. The sale of census data normally includes the reproduction and publication costs.
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