Abstract #301731

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JSM 2003 Abstract #301731
Activity Number: 222
Type: Invited
Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2003 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics
Abstract - #301731
Title: Census 2000 vs. Past Censuses: Which Would You Choose?
Author(s): Preston J. Waite*+
Companies: U.S. Census Bureau
Address: 5 Wicklow Ct., Waldorf, MD, 20602-3452,
Keywords: Census 2000 ; operational successes ; coverage ; innovations (promotions and marketing, address list, data capture, data dissemination)
Abstract:

When compared to previous decennial censuses, Census 2000 was more accurate, better executed, more open and more transparent. It was completed on time and under budget with key operations functioning as planned. The Nonresponse Follow-up (NRFU) operation was completed in 9½ weeks, not 17 weeks as in 1990. Our data capture and processing operations, which included the widespread and unprecedented use of private contractors, were entirely successful, and we overcame most of the problems associated with enumerator attrition. Our advertising campaign and partnership program helped to produce a final mail return rate of 78.4%, halting the trend of steadily declining public cooperation that has occurred with each decennial census since the Census Bureau first initiated a national mail-out/mail-back approach in 1970. Most important, we achieved a substantial reduction in the differential net undercount between minority and nonminority populations, and a reduction in the net undercount for each minority population. Census 2000 constitutes a dramatic improvement in the conduct of decennial census operations when compared to previous censuses.

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