Reengineering the 2010 Census Risks and Challenges (2004) / Chapter Skim
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5 Enumeration and Data-Processing Methods
5 Enumeration and Data-Processing Methods
Pages 139-168
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From page 139... ...
kit of enumeration methods. Relying on a short-form-only census and improvements to its geographic resources, the Bureau hopes to make use of a new generation of portable computing devices (PCDs)
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From page 140... ...
r .~ A. ~ . ~ or 5-A PORTABLE COMPUTING DEVICES Since the 1970s, computer-assisted interviewing (CAI)
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From page 141... ...
. In the 2000 census, field staff used laptop computers to collect data as part of the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Program.
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From page 142... ...
In more recent in5-A. ~ Testing PCDs: Pretests and the 2004 Census Test As portable computing devices began to emerge as a focus of the 2010 census plan, the Census Bureau initiated small pilot tests involving basic skills.
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From page 143... ...
Census Bureau, Mobile Computing Device Working Group, 20021. The 2004 census test is intended to serve as the first major proving ground for portable computing device usage in the census, and to that end is more comprehensive than the earlier pilot tests.
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From page 144... ...
The expectation is that the use of PCDs will produce sufficient savings through the reduction of paper to pay for itself. In addition to the savings associated with the reduction in paper, Census Bureau cost documents have asserted that PCDs will reduce equipment and staff needed in local census offices to produce maps, reduce costs of data capture, and improve productivity (U.S.
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From page 145... ...
What we do argue for is better explication of the costs and benefits; the Census Bureau's experience with converting its survey programs to computer-assisted interviewing methods amply demonstrates that new technology does not automatically translate to cost savings. The introduction of laptops for ongoing survey data collection increased the number of staff at Census Bureau headquarters, while not reducing (initially, at least)
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From page 146... ...
. The decennial census experience with laptop computers for Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (ACE)
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From page 147... ...
A key part of establishing the specifications and requirements for the devices will be articulation of the other census operations besides nonresponse follow-up for which the devices may be used; it is unclear, for instance, to what extent PCDs might be used in American Community Survey operations or in block canvassing. As the Bureau further develops its plans for PCDs, it will be essential to keep human factors in mind.
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From page 148... ...
The test should also provide the opportunity to review specifications and requirements for the PCDs, using devices of the caliber likely to be available by 2010. Recommendation 5.2: By the end of 2004, the Census Bureau should complete requirements design for its portable computing devices, building from the results of the 2004 census test and in anticipation of the 2006 proof-of-concept test.
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From page 149... ...
For census purposes, the MAF's most fundamental purpose should be to serve as a complete register of housing units. Accordingly, an important step in enhancing the MAE is an examination of the definition, identification, and systematic coding of housing units (and, by extension, group quarters)
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From page 150... ...
As we will discuss later, identification of MAF input sources that contributed duplicate addresses should provide vital evidence in remedying duplication problems. 5-B.2 Group Quarters The logical counterpart to a call to reexamine the basic definition and interpretation of housing units is to do the same for group quarters.
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From page 151... ...
. · Ineffective processing: Instead of a bar code tracking system for individual group quarters residents, the Bureau's processing relied on a total count of questionnaires logged on a control sheet; in late processing in May 2000, the Bureau had to mount a special review after it was discovered ~ ~ .
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From page 152... ...
, the census long form is currently the only way of obtaining detailed characteristics information on the group quarters population. Accordingly, to truly replace the long form, the American Community Survey must include the group quarters population and improve the resulting data from that population (see Section 4-F.14.
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From page 153... ...
Clarification of residence rules in the census, and identification of better means of collecting information for later assessment, would aid census data collection. 5-B.4 Wortling anti Format of Race anti Hispanic Origin Questions A persistent and long-standing definitional concern arises from the Census Bureau's offering of "Some Other Race" among the possible answers to the question that elicits the racial composition of households.
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From page 154... ...
Studies from the 2000 census and the 2003 National Census Test (NCT) offer some insight into ways that it might be possible to reduce the numbers of persons reporting "Some Other Race." One clear finding is that the format of the 2000 census was a significant improvement over the format used in the 1990 census, because it reorganized the race and Hispanic origin questions and this reorganization resulted in a decline in both item nonresponse and the selection of "Some Other Race." Nonetheless, the use of "Some Other Race" was still widespread in the 2000 census, and so the Census Bureau has undertaken research to explore alternatives.
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From page 155... ...
option on the race question besides "Some Other Race." The deletion of this option without the substitution of a more meaningful response is a less than optimal solution. At the same time, the Bureau also needs to carefully examine the effects of format changes on other populations, such as American Indians, and pursue ways of providing data for American Indians that observes the "government-to-government" relationship pledged by presidential administrations since Richard M
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From page 156... ...
The option for multiracial reporting also raises challenges of interpretation and analysis in the production of demographic analysis estimates, which have been a valuable benchmark in assessing the quality of census coverage. We discuss demographic analysis further in Section 7-B, and suggest that research on optimal ways to collect data on the multiracial population also consider implications for demographic analysis.
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From page 157... ...
What we do strongly recommend, though, is that development of plans for these areas not be deferred to late in the process; strategies will be better informed by active research and evaluation, including reanalysis as appropriate of data from the 2000 census. Recommendation 5.5: The Census Bureau's development of tailored enumeration methods for special populations including irregular urban areas, colonias, gated communities, and rural areas must begin early, and not be put off for development late in the census planning cycle.
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From page 158... ...
. NRFU may be further compromised in these neighborhoods because their housing stock violates some of the basic tenets of the mailout/mailback method of data collection, the most important of which is the clear demarcation of housing units, especially in small multiunit structures.
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From page 159... ...
The 100 percent block canvass and the actual census enumeration must employ new methods. No block canvass, regardless of the effort, will work if the rules regarding the listing of housing units do not take into account the occupancy and labeling problems that frequently characterize immigrant communities.
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From page 160... ...
The partnership program and the many efforts made during the 2000 enumeration to "localize" the census and make it attuned to the interests of diverse communities should be carefully examined to build upon the successes of 2000 and to rectify any problems that may have arisen during the 2000 count. 5-D ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE MODES AND CONTACT STRATEGIES Following up on limited experience in the 2000 census, the Census Bureau plans for alternative modes of response to the questionnaire to play a larger role in the 2010 census than they did in 2000.
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From page 161... ...
This seems like a relatively high failure rate, although the report notes that "many, if not most, of the submission failures were associated with a Census ID representing a long form" (Whitworth, 2002:5~. Given the Bureau's plans to expand the use of Internet reporting for the 2010 census, it is important to examine the data from the 2000 Internet responses, as well as from the 2003 National Census Test, to identify and correct problems such as those relating to entering the ID or other security or usability issues.
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From page 162... ...
The Bureau has argued that savings in paper, printing, data capture, and warehousing costs resulting from converting many mail responders to alternative electronic response modes such as the Internet would help offset the costs of acquiring PCDs. Given the above numbers, we do not see large potential savings from alternative response modes and we urge the Bureau to develop realistic cost models for such approaches.
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From page 163... ...
The race and Hispanic questions, however, are a key area of possible concern for response by mode. This is particularly true given the multiple-response form of the race question and the demonstrated sensitivity of the Hispanic origin question to the number of groups mentioned as examples, as suggested by the 2003 National Census Test (Martin et al., 2003; see also Box 9.14.
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From page 164... ...
(2003:11) comment that, "in the Census, the largest obstacle for a targeted replacement questionnaire to nonresponding households is how to operationalize it." It is certainly not the only obstacle; both the replacement questionnaires and the greater use of alternative response modes increase the potential risk of duplicate enumerations, and so development of strategies for unduplication becomes increasingly important (see Section 5-E)
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From page 165... ...
5-E DATA-PROCESSING METHODOLOGIES: UNDUPLICATION AND IMPUTATION Two basic data-processing stages became very prominent in the 2000 census experience, and are likely to remain so in 2010. Unduplication (referring here to person records)
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From page 166... ...
Housing unit unduplication research and efforts should be conducted consistent with objectives outlined in the panel's recommendations related to the Master Address File. Person-leve} unduplication efforts should focus on improvements to the methodology developed for the 2000 Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Program, including nationalleve} matching of records by person name.
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From page 167... ...
Recommendation 5.9: The Census Bureau should conduct research into the effects of imputation on the distributions of characteristics, and routines for imputation of specific data items should be completely evaluated and revised as appropriate for use in the American Community Survey.
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