Summary of the 2010 Census Evaluation Program and Early Results

• Activity Number: 153
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Monday, August 1, 2011 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Social Statistics Section
• Author(s): Jennifer W. Reichert*+
• Companies: U.S. Census Bureau
• Keywords: 2010 Census ; 2020 Census ; Evaluations

Abstract

The U.S. Census Bureau has a long tradition of rigorously examining conduct and results of its decennial census. The 2010 Census Program for Evaluations and Experiments (CPEX) continues that tradition with over 20 evaluations aimed at analyzing various aspects of the many methods and operations deployed to complete the count of all U.S. residents. The evaluations for the 2010 Census cover six main topic areas: coverage measurement, coverage improvement, field operations, language program, questionnaire content, and marketing and publicity. To conduct the many evaluations for the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau developed key research questions prior to the start of the census. The research questions were developed, vetted, and approved by both seasoned analysts and managers to ensure the evaluation program would yield results that would prove useful for both assessing the success of the 2020 Census. This paper will provide a summary of the evaluation studies and associated research questions, and will also provide early results from some of those studies.