I recently got a flyer for this one-day conference. What will it cover:
Background, structure, content, and new products and "why NAICS is better"
The good news is that it is FREE and includes lunch.
The bad news is that it is on January 14, 1999, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. which
conflicts with TRB. It is here in Washington, D.C. at the Reagan Building,
near the Federal Triangle Metro stop. You MUST reserve a space by
responding to the Census Bureau at FAX 301-457-1343. For questions, please
call Jeanette Mon at 301-457-3126.
Bob:
I will attempt to answer your questions, and distribute my response to you,
to a number of individuals, and to the CTPP news group on the off chance
that others may have similar concerns. Here goes.
1) The effect of participation in the TAZ update program on the CTPP data that
will be available is simple. If you want any TAZ level data out of the 2000
CTPP, you must participate in the TAZ update program. If you want CTPP data
only for standard census geography, either tracts or block groups (you choose
which one), then you don't need to participate in the TAZ update program.
You asked about CTPP data available on the Internet. Right now, we don't know
if there will be any CTPP data available over the internet. We are currently
discussing the design, content, products, etc. of the 2000 CTPP with DOT. (For
general information and updates you might want to join the CTPP news group,
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net. Instructions for subscribing may be found at the URL
http://www.mcs.com/~berwyned/census. Note that there is lots of other
interesting stuff presented there, courtesy of Ed Christopher of the Chicago
Area Transportation Study and others.)
Anyway, what we do know is that there won't be CTPP data, nor any commuter
flow data, nor any specific workplace data, available through the Census
Bureau's decennial web access, once called the Data Access and Distribution
System (DADS) but now known as the American FactFinder. Flow data, or any
data tabulated by workplace instead of by residence, has been determined to
be out of scope for American FactFinder.
In our discussions with DOT we have outlined a 2000 CTPP that would consist
of a Statewide Element and an Urban Element. Each element would contain a
set of residence-based tables, a set of workplace-based tables, and a set of
origin by destination tables. These sets of tables will be standard for all
areas. Our assumption is that for a whole state in the statewide element or
for an MPO area in the urban element, the volume of data would be too great
to ask people to download it over the net. So we think we will distribute
the 2000 CTPP on CD (or some other high capacity medium) again. This time,
however, we will provide the access software ourselves and deliver just one
integrated product, data and software at the same time.
However, DOT has indicated (and I agree) that it would be nice to be able to
have some kind of data on demand system available for CTPP customers over the
net. But this is still just an idea at this point. We don't know if it's
feasible, how expensive it would be to develop, how it would work, etc.
We'll try to keep people posted on the status; right now we've agreed to look
into what it would entail, but have not promised to provide such
functionality as part of the CTPP.
2) I'm not the best person to ask what standard geography will be available
from American FactFinder. I'm not sure the decision has been made yet. I
would guess that you'll be able to retrieve anything that has been released
on a summary tape file. This would imply that you could get individual data
items for tracts and block groups of residence. It sounds like there may be
some multi-variable crosses that will be available for tracts, but not for
BGs (too much detail for the finer geography). In general, there could be
some differences like this in what data are available based on the size of an
area, but I think this would be the only criterion. As I noted above, there
won't be CTPP data available, nor any flow data, nor data by place of work
from American FactFinder. There will probably be recodes like worked in same
county, diff. county, diff state, etc.
I don't know what the current plans are for data on demand over the net
through American FactFinder. They might accept specs for custom tallies from
PUMS, but this would be for large geographic units. I don't know if there
will be any facility for doing custom tables from the full sample (i.e., not
PUMS). Even if you wanted TAZ of residence only (no flows or at-work data) I
don't know if TAZ is a piece of geography that will be supported. It could
be, because we intend to provide it on the internal files we use for
tabulations, but that doesn't mean they'll make it available over the net on
demand. I see on the Census web site that questions about 2000 are supposed
to be directed to 2000usa(a)census.gov. You could try this and see what you
get. I'd be interested in seeing their reply.
3) If an MPO does not participate in TAZ-UP, we will ask them to choose
tracts or block groups as their smallest geographic unit in the 2000 CTPP.
4) I'm not sure I understand this question. In the Urban Element, the MPOs
choices are taz (if you've participated in TAZ-UP), tract, or BG. You'll
have to pick one.
5) Our assumption so far has been that MPOs will have the choice described
above for urban element geography. This would only cover the counties
situated in the MPO areas. However, all counties would be included in the
statewide element and there would be summary levels for counties and places
of say 2,500 or more residents in the statewide element (as in the 1990
CTPP). Massachusetts (as well as some other New England states) may be an
exception in that the whole state may be covered by MPOs (RPAs in Mass) and
therefore the whole state may be included in the urban element at the taz,
or tract, or block group level.
6) The Census Bureau's policy is that the most detailed level of geography
we will show for sample (long form) data is the block group. That is why
MPOs can choose between BGs and tracts for their CTPP. In the past we have
treated TAZs as BG-like units and provided sample data for TAZs in the CTPP
as well. There seems to be more concern for 2000 within the Census Bureau
that BGs, and by implication BG-like units, may be too small to support some
of the large (in terms of number of cells) tables created for them in the
past.
7) Again, I'm not sure what you are asking. In standard census data
products like STF3A on CD-ROM the entire hierarchy is available, from Block
Group to whole state totals. In printed reports, totals for places above
some size cutoff are usually available. There have also been printed data
available in the past for census tracts by residence, but I don't know if
that will happen for 2000. In the CTPP, you pick one of the three as your
most detailed level.
8) Even if an MPO, or region, or county used TAZs in the 1990 CTPP and those
TAZs were inserted into TIGER, and they think they don't want to make any
changes to the boundaries, they still have to participate in the TAZ-UP
program if they want TAZ data from the CTPP in 2000. It is entirely
possible that some of the lines used as TAZ boundaries in 1990 will not be
available for use in 2000, so boundaries will need to be adjusted. But in
addition, for 2000 there will be many more lines that will be eligible to be
used for TAZ boundaries, since MPOs won't be constrained to build them up
from census tabulation blocks. This means it should be easier for the MPO
to approximate the true TAZ boundaries than it has been in the past.
Sorry this has run on so long. Please call me at (301) 457-2454 if I've
missed the boat and failed to clearly answer your questions.
--Phil
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: CTPP 2000 TAZ Update Program
Author: "Frey-DPW Bob" <Bob.Frey(a)state.ma.us> at SMTP-GATEWAY
Date: 11/30/1998 3:36 PM
Hello Phil:
Bob Frey from the Massachusetts Highway Department here. We have had
several discussions concerning CTPP in past years, and I'm hoping you can
help again. Todd Blair suggested I contact you to get some further
clarification regarding the TAZ Update program:
1) Will TAZ update participation status have any effect on what CTPP data
will be available on the internet, or will a standard set of reports be
available for all areas?
2) And what standard census geography will be available on the internet,
and does this differ depending on the area?
3) If an MPO choses not to participate in the program, what is the default
delineation for 2000 CTPP data (census tracts, block groups, or 1990 TAZ
boundaries)?
4) In this situation, would block groups be available to every area anyway?
5) If not, will the CTPP data be available only to the level of tracts for
rural areas, and down to block groups for urbanized areas?
6) Exactly what determines the lowest level of census geography available
for the data in a given region?
7) Program participation aside, how can I determine what will be available
throughout Massachusetts in terms of tracts/block groups?
8) If a region/county wants to keep their 1990 TAZs without changes, do
they still need to participate in the TAZ Update Program to confirm this?
If you could get back to me soon by phone or e-mail I would greatly
appreciate it.
Thanks,
Bob Frey
MassHighway Planning
(617)973-7449
bob.frey(a)state.ma.us
____________________________ Forward Header ________________________________
Subject: 2000 CTPP TAZ-UP
Author: Don Burrell <DBURRELL(a)oki.org> at SMTP-GATEWAY Date: 11/25/98
5:12 PM
The Journey-to-work and FHWA folks are currently working on
a program to prepare the CTPP TAZ geography in advance of the census,
specifically by next summer. This is to be done using a program called
TAZ-UP, TIGER/Line 99 and ArcView GIS software.
Today, I shipped the results of the 2000 Census Statistical Areas Review
process for 2 of the Cincinnati area counties to the Detroit regional
office. This work, which is underway throughout the country, has identified
census tract and block group boundary changes to be used for the 2000
census.
Having just now put 2 + 2 together, my question is whether or not the Bureau
will have our new local recommendations for census boundary changes in the
TIGER/Line 99 file that is to be shipped to us for the TAZ-UP work? OKI
plans to revise many of our TAZ boundaries to conform to the 2000 census
geography. It would be helpful to have the 2000 census geography shown.
Don Burrell
OH-KY-IN Regional Council of Govmts.
____________________________________________________________________________
Response from P. Salopek
Don:
I could not answer this question on my own, so I spoke with Bob LaMacchia in
Geography Division of the Census Bureau. The first point is that for the
TAZ-UP program, TIGER/Line 98 will be the base, not T/L 99. T/L 98 will NOT
include the local recommendations for block boundaries that you just
submitted. Bob L. says that the verification phase for both programs will
occur at the same time. This means that the T/L 99 that I guess
participants in both activities will receive to review will contain both the
new TAZ boundaries and the new block boundaries (collection blocks, not
tabulation blocks). One point to remember is that in defining TAZs for 2000
you will not be constrained to build them from blocks, since blocks won't be
defined yet. You will in fact have a wider array of lines/features to use
as TAZ boundaries than has been available in the past. We think this is an
improvement and should allow closer approximation to true TAZ boundaries.
--Phil
December 4, 1998
Supreme Court Weighs Legal, Constitutional Issues in Census
Sampling
Cases
Justices Question Role of Judiciary in Settling Sampling
Dispute
Monitoring Board Reviews Use of Administrative Records in
Census
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments
November 30 in two lawsuits challenging the use of sampling
and statistical estimation in the census. The Justices
heard presentations from Solicitor General Seth Waxman,
arguing on behalf of the Administration; Maureen Mahoney,
with the firm of Latham & Watkins, representing the U.S.
House of Representatives; and Michael Carvin, with the firm
of Cooper, Carvin, & Rosenthal, representing Matthew Glavin
and other private plaintiffs. The Court had agreed to
consider both cases after two separate three-judge district
court panels ruled earlier this year that the Census Act
prohibits sampling to derive the population counts used for
congressional re-apportionment.
Some highlights of the hearing in the cases of U.S. House of
Representatives v. U.S. Department of Commerce and Glavin v.
Clinton:
* Several Justices were skeptical about the legal
authority of the House of Representatives to sue the
Executive branch to force a particular action that Congress
could not bring about by enacting a law. Justice Scalia said
that the Judicial branch should not be asked to resolve a
political dispute between the other two branches. He
prompted laughter by suggesting that Congress could threaten
to withhold funds for the census or even White House
operations until the Administration agreed with its position
on sampling.
* There was less discussion about the legal standing
of individuals and counties to file suit in the Glavin
case. However, there was some confusion about whether these
private parties must show that their States were likely to
lose a congressional seat if sampling were used, in order to
establish probable harm or injury from the Census Bureau's
plan for 2000. There was also confusion over whether
critics of the Bureau's plan believed that the law and
Constitution barred sampling only for congressional
apportionment or for other purposes as well. Justice
Ginsburg noted that the use of sampling to produce census
numbers for redistricting and the allocation of Federal aid
was not an issue before the Court. However, Ms. Mahoney
argued that sampling could not be used to count the
population for any purpose, including congressional
redistricting and Federal funds distribution. The Secretary
of Commerce's authority to use sampling in taking a
decennial census, she said, is limited to the collection of
demographic and economic data on the traditional long form.
* The Justices appeared to be divided about whether
sampling and other statistical methods could be used to
improve a direct counting effort. Justice O'Connor said
that most people would think that the words "actual
enumeration" in the Constitution meant a one-by-one count.
She later challenged the House counsel's description of the
Census Bureau's plan as an effort to count only 90 percent
of the population, noting that 100 percent of households
would receive a census form. Justice Stevens asked what
census takers would do if there were a building with many
undocumented residents who were afraid to answer the door
and provide information. In the face of evidence that
people lived there, must the census taker write down "zero,"
the Justice asked, even though "one" would be closer to the
truth? Ms. Mahoney said that the count for those households
must be "zero," which she said was preferable to guessing,
prompting Justice Breyer to ask whether that was the policy
even if the lights went on and off at night.
Many observers believe the Court will issue a ruling by next
spring; technically, the Justices have until the end of the
term (late June or the beginning of July) to reach a
decision.
Monitoring Board examines administrative records: The Census
Monitoring Board debated whether administrative records
could be used to reduce the disproportionate undercount of
racial minorities in the 2000 census at a November 23
hearing at Census Bureau headquarters. Republican co-chair
Kenneth Blackwell said in opening remarks that he believes
the Bureau can use Federal, State and local program
databases, such as Medicaid files, to add targeted,
hard-to-count populations to the census.
Dr. John Czajka, a member of the National Academy of
Sciences panel reviewing census methods, was the only
non-Bureau witness. Dr. Czajka discussed the quality and
content of government databases, and said records must be
pulled from many sources in order to compile the basic
information collected in the census. For example, tax
returns and other information maintained by the Internal
Revenue Service could be linked with social security records
to gain more demographic data.
Dr. Czajka said that further research was needed to overcome
several deficiencies in the data from administrative
databases that make their use problematic for census
purposes. Those problems include the lack of a physical
address (e.g., a post office box); the time lag between
point of collection and Census Day; the inclusion of people
who have died or the omission of recent births in some
record sets; and missing demographic variables needed for
the census (such as race, marital status, and relationship
of householders). Databases also are most likely to leave
out young people in their late teens and early twenties and
noncitizens, he noted.
Dr. Czajka concluded that administrative records could not
be used to add people to the 2000 count. Three previous
efforts to rely on such records to add to the census "blew
up on the launch pad," he told the Board. He urged the
Census Bureau to spearhead a research effort to address
deficiencies, as well as privacy and confidentiality issues,
and also noted that current law may prohibit the disclosure
of some records for census purposes.
Senior Census Bureau staff testifying before the Monitoring
Board said that the Bureau would have to verify the
information contained in administrative databases before
adding those people to the census count. They noted, for
example, that about 16 percent of all Americans move each
year, while much higher proportions of harder-to-count
groups like renters change residences, making field
verification of administrative records necessary. The
Bureau plans an extensive research effort to determine if
government databases can be used to count the population in
future censuses, the staff said. Bureau Director Kenneth
Prewitt said the agency is not opposed to using
administrative records in the census. "The bureau would use
any method we thought would make the count better," he said.
There were no witnesses supporting the use of administrative
records to add people to the 2000 census. At the conclusion
of the meeting, co-chair Blackwell said Republican Board
members did not want the Bureau to rely on methods that
haven't worked in the past if the Supreme Court "outlawed"
sampling, and they urged the Bureau to pursue the use of
program databases to address the differential undercount.
The Board's next hearing is on December 16 in Sacramento,
CA, one of the three dress-rehearsal sites.
Census Advisory Committee considers recommendations: At its
last meeting of the year, members of the 2000 Census
Advisory Committee reviewed a draft of the panel's final
report, which it will present to the Secretary of Commerce
next February. The report will include key recommendations
on the importance of partnerships with local governments and
community-based stakeholders, effective field operations,
the use of scientific and statistical methods, and the
availability of census data products.
Administrative note: You can find an archive of recent and
past News Alerts at the Census 2000 Initiative Web site,
www.census2000.orghttp://www.census2000.org.
Questions about the information contained in this News Alert
may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 484-2270 or,
by e-mail at terriann2k(a)aol.com. Please direct all requests
to receive News Alerts, and all changes in
address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Census 2000 at
Census2000(a)ccmc.org or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to
circulate this information to colleagues and other
interested individuals.
Vol. 2 - No. 46 Dec. 4, 1998
A newly redesigned section of the Census Bureau's Internet
site contains a storehouse of information about Census 2000
news and articles, plans and operations, promotional ideas,
business opportunities and job postings.
The United States Census 2000 page
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/2khome.htm is divided into the
following six subsections: What's New; General Information;
Partnerships and Promotion; Plans and Operations; Contracts
and Procurement; and Jobs and Employment.
With Census 2000 more than a year off, the Census 2000
section is still in the early stages of construction, but it
already contains a wide array of information about the
decennial census.
Under What's New, links take the browser to a listing of
Census 2000 news releases and drop-in articles that can be
used in organizational newsletters or magazines. To be added
in the future are partnership agreements with national media
organizations, B-roll video clips for television stations,
stock photos and the Census 2000 logo and taglines.
The General Information subsection includes fact sheets on a
variety of topics, reports on the census advisory
committees, frequently asked questions, a glossary of
acronyms, 1990 census data files and adjusted and unadjusted
data from the 1990 census down to the census block level.
Articles describing what partnership organizations, both
governmental and nongovernmental, can do to promote the
census, a list of partnership contacts at the Census Bureau
headquarters and regional offices and a list of publications
and articles fall under Partnerships and Promotion.
The Plans and Operations heading contains the Census 2000
operational plan (April 1998), a report to the Congress, and
discussions of sampling, address list development,
congressional apportionment and legislative redistricting,
as well as early reports on the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal.
Contracts and Procurement covers statements of need,
requests for proposal, lists of bidders and other
procurement information on Census 2000's major contracts:
advertising services; automation infrastructure,
data-capture services and data-capture system, data
dissemination, laptop computer acquisition, telephone
questionnaire assistance, etc.
The job postings are for positions at headquarters and in
the regional offices, at the data capture centers, the
telephone centers and the National Processing Center in
Jeffersonville, Ind.
In the future, links to the Census Bureau's new data
dissemination system, the American FactFinder, as well as to
the American Community Survey and other Census 2000-related
activities will be added to the Census 2000 page. For
further information about this bulletin, contact J. Paul
Wyatt of the Public Information Office on 301-457-3052 (fax:
301-457-3670; e-mail: pwyatt(a)census.gov).
Today, we in Denver received a telephone call from FHWA to obtain our contact information. Guess they have defined a Plan B and are calling MPOs directly.
Larry Mugler
owner-ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net wrote:
> SHS wrote:
>
> > Is every MPO supposed to receive the TAZ Update forms by now? If yes, we have
> not received any yet.
> > Memphis MPO
>
> I am cross posting this to the ctpp listserve because i think it is a broad
> issue.
>
> Yes, it is my understanding that the introduction letter explaining the TAZ
> update process and
> soliciting some info, like agency contact went out in the beginning of October
> to all the usdot
> divisional offices. They were instructed to pass it to their state which inturn
> was to pass it to the
> MPOs.
>
> Right now all i can say is don't worry, you are not alone, and the originators
> of the letter are on this
> list serve. I don't want to make any recommendation like call Tom Mank of FHWA
> since I do not (as yet)
> know what plan B is. I can tell you that the MPO in northeastern Illinois has
> not seen it yet either. I
> just asked around the agency today and no one has seen it.
>
> ed christopher
> director or information services
> chicago area transportation study
____________________________________________________________________
Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1
Hello out there in CTPP land, this is Dave Aultman in the Geography Division at the Census Bureau. I am involved in both the Census 2000 Participant Statistical Areas Program and the 2000 CTPP TAZ Update Program.
I would like to pass on some information that will clarify the situation.
1. To confirm what Phil Salopek stated, participants in the 2000 TAZ program will receive 98 TIGER/Line files (not 99 TIGER/Line files) to do the initial delineation of the 2000 TAZs. These files WILL NOT CONTAIN THE APPROVED CENSUS 2000 STATISTICAL AREAS. These files are being created this month and next. At present the Census Bureau has received only a handful of Census 2000 statistical area plans. It is possible that some files may contain the approved statistical areas, but that number is very small. In almost every county the census tracts, block groups, CDPs, and CCDs that are contained in the 2000 area of the 98 TIGER/Line files are copies of the statistical areas used for the 1990 census, not the approved Census 2000 statistical areas.
2. Participants in the TAZ Program will receive 1999 TIGER/Line files in November and December 1999. These files WILL CONTAIN THE CENSUS 2000 STATISTICAL AREAS, and their 2000 TAZs. The Census Bureau is providing participants with these files to verify the capture and insertion of their TAZs. Participant can submit changes to 1) correct errors that the Census Bureau made, 2) make adjustments to TAZ boundaries that are affected by the changes to political boundaries, and 3) redefine their TAZs for purposes such as conforming to the Census 2000 statistical areas.
Participants in the Census 2000 Participant Statistical Areas Program also will receive 1999 TIGER/Line files to do essentially the same verification of their statistical area boundaries. However, unlike the TAZ Verification, the Census Bureau WILL NOT accept wholesale changes of their statistical areas. We will limit particpant to making only a few changes that are not due to Census Bureau error or changes brought about by changes in polictical boundaries.
Please contact me at (301) 457-1099 if you any questions or comments.
On 12/2/98, phillip_a_salopek wrote:
> ____________________________ Forward Header >________________________________ > Subject: 2000 CTPP TAZ-UP > Author: Don Burrell <DBURRELL(a)oki.org> at SMTP-
>GATEWAY Date: 11/25/98 > 5:12 PM
> > > The Journey-to-work and FHWA folks are currently >working on
> a program to prepare the CTPP TAZ geography in >advance of the census, > specifically by next summer. This is to be done >using a program called > TAZ-UP, TIGER/Line 99 and ArcView GIS software.
> > Today, I shipped the results of the 2000 Census >Statistical Areas Review > process for 2 of the Cincinnati area counties to >the Detroit regional > office. This work, which is underway throughout >the country, has identified
> census tract and block group boundary changes to >be used for the 2000 > census. > > Having just now put 2 + 2 together, my question >is whether or not the Bureau > will have our new local recommendations for >census boundary changes in the > TIGER/Line 99 file that is to be shipped to us >for the TAZ-UP work? OKI > plans to revise many of our TAZ boundaries to >conform to the 2000 census > geography. It would be helpful to have the 2000 >census geography shown.
> > Don Burrell
> OH-KY-IN Regional Council of Govmts.
> > _________________________________________________
>___________________________
> > Response from P. Salopek
> > Don:
> > I could not answer this question on my own, so I >spoke with Bob LaMacchia in > Geography Division of the Census Bureau. The >first point is that for the > TAZ-UP program, TIGER/Line 98 will be the base, >not T/L 99. T/L 98 will NOT > include the local recommendations for block >boundaries that you just > submitted. Bob L. says that the verification >phase for both programs will > occur at the same time. This means that the T/L >99 that I guess > participants in both activities will receive to >review will contain both the > new TAZ boundaries and the new block boundaries >(collection blocks, not > tabulation blocks). One point to remember is >that in defining TAZs for 2000 > you will not be constrained to build them from >blocks, since blocks won't be > defined yet. You will in fact have a wider array >of lines/features to use > as TAZ boundaries than has been available in the >past. We think this is an > improvement and should allow closer approximation >to true TAZ boundaries.
> > --Phil
>
>
>
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> <tom.mank(a)fhwa.dot.gov>, ><wende.oneill(a)bts.gov>,
> <ernest_wilson_jr(a)ccmail.census.gov>,
> <ernest_wilson_jr(a)ccmail.census.gov>
> Subject: [CTPP] TAZs and BBSP (Block Boundary >Suggestion Program)
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SHS wrote:
> Is every MPO supposed to receive the TAZ Update forms by now? If yes, we have not received any yet.
> Memphis MPO
I am cross posting this to the ctpp listserve because i think it is a broad issue.
Yes, it is my understanding that the introduction letter explaining the TAZ update process and
soliciting some info, like agency contact went out in the beginning of October to all the usdot
divisional offices. They were instructed to pass it to their state which inturn was to pass it to the
MPOs.
Right now all i can say is don't worry, you are not alone, and the originators of the letter are on this
list serve. I don't want to make any recommendation like call Tom Mank of FHWA since I do not (as yet)
know what plan B is. I can tell you that the MPO in northeastern Illinois has not seen it yet either. I
just asked around the agency today and no one has seen it.
ed christopher
director or information services
chicago area transportation study
********** C E N S U S 2 0 0 0 B U L L E T I N
**********
Vol. 2 - No. 45 Nov. 24,
1998
Citing a need to reduce the workload for "the large
household followup" and expected overall coverage
improvements, especially among hard-to-enumerate
populations, the Census Bureau has decided to adopt a
six-person questionnaire design. This will apply to both the
short and long forms in the Census 2000 plan, which includes
scientific sampling, and in an alternative plan, which calls
for traditional census-taking methods.
The Census Bureau anticipates that the change from a
five-person to a six-person questionnaire for forms that are
mailed out or delivered by enumerators to housing units for
mailback will cut followup workload for large households in
half. Planning estimates put the number of mailback
households with seven or more persons at slightly more than
1 million households versus about 4 million households with
six or more.
The issue was revisited recently during discussions about
ways that the Census Bureau might increase coverage in a
census that does not include statistical sampling to
supplement traditional methods. With deadlines for
advertising printing specifications scheduled for October
1998, it was found to be more cost-effective to require
six-person forms only, notwithstanding a final decision on
sampling. The alternative would have necessitated printing
two sets of questionnaires for the entire country, a
prohibitive expense.
Other advantages of the six-person questionnaire:
--it retains the design initiatives developed in the
commercially designed form to make an easy-to-complete,
respondent-friendly questionnaire.
--it can be introduced into the Census Bureau's basic system
for data capture and mailback questionnaire processing
without major disruption.
--it provides for a slight positive advantage in the
Integrated Coverage Measurement survey one of the components
in the current sampling plan through more timely data
capture of complete large households.
--it reduces respondent burden by requiring six-person
households to respond only once by using a mailback
questionnaire designed for households with six persons,
rather than one for five (which would have required
additional reporting by the six-person households).
Disadvantages of the six-person mailback questionnaire are
few. Although followup is reduced by an estimated 50
percent, there are overall higher costs associated with the
six-person mailback questionnaire due to the long form data
capture method, which involves capture of each page
regardless of the number of persons in the household.
Also, the additional width of the short-form is another area
of higher costs. Both, however, were considered to be
relatively minor cost increases when balanced against data
quality erosion and losses resulting from the two-stage
enumeration for large households.
For further information about Census 2000 Bulletins, contact
J. Paul Wyatt of the Public Information Office on
301-457-3052 (fax: 301-457-3670; e-mail: pwyatt(a)census.gov).