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Abstract:
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The paper covers the measurement of accuracy in the U.S. Census over time. It draws heavily on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and from my book on Differential Undercounts in the U.S. Census. First, the methodology used by the U.S. Census Bureau to measure accuracy is discussed including strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Overall accuracy in the Census over the past 70 years is addressed first, based largely on the Demographic Analysis (DA) method. That is followed by an examination of census trends in accuracy for racial and Hispanic minority groups. The exact historical period covered here varies by group, because of data availability. In this section, I explore several additional aspect of different coverage based on data from the 2010 Census. I next provide data on net undercounts by age focusing mostly on the high and increasing net undercount of young children. I end with comments about why people are missed in the Census and the implications of undercounts.
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