Once, Only Once, and in the Right Place

Once, Only Once, and in the Right Place
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2006-11-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309164575

The usefulness of the U.S. decennial census depends critically on the accuracy with which individual people are counted in specific housing units, at precise geographic locations. The 2000 and other recent censuses have relied on a set of residence rules to craft instructions on the census questionnaire in order to guide respondents to identify their correct "usual residence." Determining the proper place to count such groups as college students, prisoners, and military personnel has always been complicated and controversial; major societal trends such as placement of children in shared custody arrangements and the prevalence of "snowbird" and "sunbird" populations who regularly move to favorable climates further make it difficult to specify ties to one household and one place. Once, Only Once, and in the Right Place reviews the evolution of current residence rules and the way residence concepts are presented to respondents. It proposes major changes to the basic approach of collecting residence information and suggests a program of research to improve the 2010 and future censuses.

Small Populations, Large Effects

Small Populations, Large Effects
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2012-06-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309255635

In the early 1990s, the Census Bureau proposed a program of continuous measurement as a possible alternative to the gathering of detailed social, economic, and housing data from a sample of the U.S. population as part of the decennial census. The American Community Survey (ACS) became a reality in 2005, and has included group quarters (GQ)-such places as correctional facilities for adults, student housing, nursing facilities, inpatient hospice facilities, and military barracks-since 2006, primarily to more closely replicate the design and data products of the census long-form sample. The decision to include group quarters in the ACS enables the Census Bureau to provide a comprehensive benchmark of the total U.S. population (not just those living in households). However, the fact that the ACS must rely on a sample of what is a small and very diverse population, combined with limited funding available for survey operations, makes the ACS GQ sampling, data collection, weighting, and estimation procedures more complex and the estimates more susceptible to problems stemming from these limitations. The concerns are magnified in small areas, particularly in terms of detrimental effects on the total population estimates produced for small areas. Small Populations, Large Effects provides an in-depth review of the statistical methodology for measuring the GQ population in the ACS. This report addresses difficulties associated with measuring the GQ population and the rationale for including GQs in the ACS. Considering user needs for ACS data and of operational feasibility and compatibility with the treatment of the household population in the ACS, the report recommends alternatives to the survey design and other methodological features that can make the ACS more useful for users of small-area data.

History, 2000 Census of Population and Housing: Census geography and the geographic support system

History, 2000 Census of Population and Housing: Census geography and the geographic support system
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2009
Genre: Census of population and housing (2000)
ISBN:

From Book's Preface: Contains summary population totals for the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island areas and for major race groups and an overview of political, statistical, and technological context in which the census took place. Describes preparations for the census, including lessons learned from the 1990 census, consultations with governmental and other data users, recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences and other advisory groups, and the plans for and results of census tests conducted between 1992 and 1998. Summarizes the history of each question on the short and long forms, the response categories, data uses, and any associated editing, allocation, and coding instructions. Reviews evaluations and recommendations from the 1990 program, the decision to use paid advertising in Census 2000, developing and implementing an integrated marketing strategy, components of the partnership program, and a series of special initiatives. Describes the organization and distribution of regional census centers and local census offices, the hiring and training of temporary field staff, the hardware and software used to track and assess census progress, and the different components of the enumeration process. Summarizes the decision to hire contractors to conduct data capture and manage the data capture centers, the hardware and software used to capture census data, the headquarters tabulation process, identification and deletion of duplicates, editing and imputation, intermediate data files, and the creation of the 100 percent and sample detail files. Covers such topics as data collection and tabulation geography, mapping, creating and updating the census address list, data products and their dissemination, the experimental and evaluation programs, legislation, litigation, the debate over sampling, and the census in Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.

Differential Undercounts in the U.S. Census

Differential Undercounts in the U.S. Census
Author: William P. O’Hare
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2019-02-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030109739

This open access book describes the differences in US census coverage, also referred to as “differential undercount”, by showing which groups have the highest net undercounts and which groups have the greatest undercount differentials, and discusses why such undercounts occur. In addition to focusing on measuring census coverage for several demographic characteristics, including age, gender, race, Hispanic origin status, and tenure, it also considers several of the main hard-to-count populations, such as immigrants, the homeless, the LBGT community, children in foster care, and the disabled. However, given the dearth of accurate undercount data for these groups, they are covered less comprehensively than those demographic groups for which there is reliable undercount data from the Census Bureau. This book is of interest to demographers, statisticians, survey methodologists, and all those interested in census coverage.

History: 7 : Census geography and the geographic support system

History: 7 : Census geography and the geographic support system
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2009
Genre: Census of population and housing (2000)
ISBN:

From Book's Preface: Contains summary population totals for the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island areas and for major race groups and an overview of political, statistical, and technological context in which the census took place. Describes preparations for the census, including lessons learned from the 1990 census, consultations with governmental and other data users, recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences and other advisory groups, and the plans for and results of census tests conducted between 1992 and 1998. Summarizes the history of each question on the short and long forms, the response categories, data uses, and any associated editing, allocation, and coding instructions. Reviews evaluations and recommendations from the 1990 program, the decision to use paid advertising in Census 2000, developing and implementing an integrated marketing strategy, components of the partnership program, and a series of special initiatives. Describes the organization and distribution of regional census centers and local census offices, the hiring and training of temporary field staff, the hardware and software used to track and assess census progress, and the different components of the enumeration process. Summarizes the decision to hire contractors to conduct data capture and manage the data capture centers, the hardware and software used to capture census data, the headquarters tabulation process, identification and deletion of duplicates, editing and imputation, intermediate data files, and the creation of the 100 percent and sample detail files. Covers such topics as data collection and tabulation geography, mapping, creating and updating the census address list, data products and their dissemination, the experimental and evaluation programs, legislation, litigation, the debate over sampling, and the census in Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.