Imputation Research for the 2020 Census

• Activity Number: 516
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
• Author(s): Andrew Keller*
• Companies: U.S. Census Bureau
• Keywords: count imputation ; characteristic imputation ; administrative records ; nonresponse

Abstract

For the 2010 Census, the count imputation procedure filled in housing unit status and size for the small proportion of addresses (less than one-half percent) where this information was unknown. The small proportion was due in part to an extensive nonresponse followup (NRFU) field operation geared towards resolving addresses so that a status and count were known.

For 2020, the Census Bureau is researching two changes to the NRFU field operation to reduce cost. The first is the possible use of administrative records (AR) to provide a status and count for some nonresponding addresses. The second is potentially reducing the number of visits made to nonresponding addresses. Although using AR will help resolve some of the remaining unresolved cases, the proportion of addresses in need of count imputation may be higher in 2020 due to the reduction in NRFU fieldwork.

The 2010 count imputation model was developed assuming a small amount of missing data. This research looks at potential count imputation models to handle increased missingness. The paper also articulates the downstream characteristic imputation ramifications from the same missing data challenge.