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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Nation's Premier Civil and Human Rights Coalition
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights & The Leadership Conference Education Fund
The Nation's Premier Civil and Human Rights Coalition

Census 2000 Education Kit

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the decennial Census?

A. Very simply, the Constitution requires a count of the population every ten years. This count is known as the 'decennial census.' The 2000 Census will mark the 21st decennial census (the first census was conducted in 1790).

Q. Why is the Census an important issue?

A. The census receives little attention from Congress and the public in the years between each count, yet it is a lynchpin for governmental and private sector activities throughout the decade. Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution places the census at the core of our democratic system of governance, requiring an enumeration of all residents of the United States in order to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. Census population numbers and related demographic data are used to distribute tens of billions of dollars annually in Federal, state and local program funds that help our communities grow and prosper.

Q. Why is the Census an important civil rights issue?

A. Census data are used to apportion congressional seats and electoral college votes to each state, to carry out congressional, state, and local redistricting. and to monitor and enforce compliance with civil rights statutes, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and employment, housing, lending, and education anti-discrimination laws. Census results are also used to allocate billions in federal funds. Because the accuracy of the census directly affects our nation's ability to ensure equal representation and equal access to important governmental resources for all Americans, ensuring a fair and accurate census must be regarded as one of the most significant civil rights issues facing the country today.

Q. Isn't it difficult to count all the people residing in the United States?

A. Yes, it is extremely difficult. Even though every census is designed to accomplish a complete count of the population, no census has ever been successful in achieving that goal. Despite technological advances and consistent efforts to improve the process, errors persist. Persons who should be counted are missed and some persons who should have been counted only once are counted twice?

Q. How accurate was the 1990 Census?

A. Not very. The 1990 Census was the first census in over fifty years to be less accurate then its predecessor. The 1990 Census missed 8.4 million people and double-counted 4.4 million others.

Q. What is an undercount?

A. The undercount refers to the percentage of people who are missed by the census count.

Q. How can the Census Bureau determine whether there is an undercount and its size? If they knew the actual size of the US population, why would they need a census?

A. The size of the undercount (error) is determined by comparing the census results with estimates of the population developed from demographic data.

Q. Why is the undercount a problem?

A. If every individual had the same likelihood of being missed, the undercount would not be as big of a problem. However, census undercounts are not evenly distributed throughout the population but are concentrated among poor, minority, and central city populations - communities that often are most in need of social services and economic development programs. This results in a phenomenon known as the "differential undercount."

Q. What was the differential undercount in 1990?

A. The 1990 differential undercount was the highest ever recorded since the Census Bureau began conducting post-census evaluations in 1940, missing 4.4 percent of African Americans; 5 percent of Americans of Hispanic origin; 2.3 percent of Asians an d Pacific Islanders; and, over 12 percent of Native Americans living on reservations. Most disturbing is how badly the 1990 census missed children. While children under the age of 18 represented 26 percent of the total national population that year, they accounted for an incredible 52 percent of those missed.

Q. Evaluations show that children, people of color and the rural and urban poor are more likely to be missed. Why are these populations missed at higher rates than the population as a whole?

A. Factors such as poverty, illiteracy, lack of education, fear or mistrust of government, language barriers, geography, and changing family structure all contribute to lower rates of coverage.

Q. What are the consequences to the American people if the census is not accurate? What is really at stake here?

A: Accuracy must improve in the 2000 Census. Census information is the basis for virtually all demographic information used by educators, policy makers, and community leaders. America relies on Census data everyday - to determine where to build more roads and hospitals; federal, state and local governments use Census data to decide which communities need more federal help for WIC, senior nutrition programs, job training and other services; businesses rely on Census data for marketing, hiring, and expansion plans. For instance, a state that has a significant number of children undercounted may not receive adequate funding for critical programs like Head Start, child care or nutrition programs. Therefore, it is important that we have the most accurate census possible using the best, most up-to-date scientific methods as recommended by the National Academy of Science.

Q. Can the Census Bureau reduce the undercount in the 2000 Census?

A. Yes! The Census Bureau's plan for 2000 combines a more aggressive direct enumeration effort, including replacement questionnaires and multiple response options, with modern scientific sampling methods to eliminate the pervasive differential undercount of people of color and the urban and rural poor.

Q. What are 'modern scientific methods'?

A: Modern scientific (sampling) methods are the scientific techniques recommended by the National Academy of Sciences to the Census Bureau to ensure the most accurate count in the year 2000. The use of these scientific methods will supplement an aggressive direct enumeration effort in 2000. As well learned in 1990, the Census will not reach everyone no matter how hard the Bureau tries. After the visits to unresponsive households are completed, census takers will conduct a large, quality check survey of representative households nationwide to ensure the accuracy of the final Census numbers. This "post enumeration survey" will measure how many people were missed or counted twice during the direct counting operations and provide the basis for a possible correction of the initial tally. In this way, the Census Bureau will have made every effort to count everyone in 2000.

Q. Are these modern scientific methods supported by the nation's statistical community?

A. Yes! The Census Bureau's plan to supplement the count with scientific methods was recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Other leading statistical associations have endorsed the concept of sampling as well including: the American Statistical Association, the American Sociological Association. Scientists and mathematicians utilize sampling for a wide variety of purposes, including medical studies, industrial quality control, and social research. Morris H. Hansen and W. Edwards Deming, giants in the field of statistics, pioneered the use of sampling in the 1940 census.

Q. Does the government rely on modern scientific methods like sampling for other purposes?

A. Yes! Most people are familiar with the monthly unemployment rate. Because the government cannot afford to do a census every month, this number - like so many others we refer to every day - is derived from a sample. In 1995, a panel of the National Research Council concluded, "That it is fruitless to continue trying to count every last person with traditional census methods of physical enumeration." They recommended that after a good-faith effort to count everyone, sampling should be used to estimate the number and characteristics of the remaining non-respondents.

Q. Won't sampling delete real people from the census count?

A: No! Under the present plan of the Census Bureau, all records of persons completing a Census form including the form sent in the mail or the one filled out during the enumerator interview will be included in Census 2000. No forms will be eliminated unless they are fraudulent or duplicative.

Q. Isn't it true that if Congress and the Administration work together we can count all Americans without changing the method by which the census is taken?

A: No! In 1991, Congress, with the assistance of the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Sciences, sought a solution to the serious problem of the 1990 undercount. They concluded that: (1) regardless of how much is spent, traditional methods of counting will never provide accurate Census results because people will always be missed; (2) undercounting certain groups will continue to be worse than the average; and (3) by using scientific sampling as part of the overall plan for counting, the Census could reduce the national undercount to nearly zero and reduce the overall cost of the effort substantially.

Q. Is the 2000 Census the first time statistical sampling procedures will be used?

A. No! Since at least 1940, statistical imputation has been used when an enumerator knew that a housing unit was occupied, but could not obtain information on the number of people living in that unit. Sampling statistical procedures were used to add persons to the 1970 Census. The 1970 Census included about 4.9 million persons who were added on the basis of various statistical procedures including sampling. For example, a recheck of a sample of housing units labeled vacant, revealed that about 11.4 percent of the housing units originally classified as vacant were really occupied. As a result, about 1.1 million persons were added to the count using statistical procedures.

Q. How much more money will it cost to just achieve the same level of accuracy as 1990?

A: If the Census Bureau employs the same techniques in the 2000 decennial Census as it did in the 1990 Census, it would have to spend between $675and $800 million more and would still have a net undercount of 5 million people. To make any significant reduction in the undercount - without the use of modern scientific sampling - would cost billions more.

Q. Is the Census Bureau's plan vulnerable to political manipulation?

A: No! In addition, the Census Bureau is run by career employees with a long tradition of independence and professionalism. Furthermore, a bipartisan Census Monitoring Board has been created by the President and Republican leaders to guarantee that politics plays no role.

Q. Isn't sampling just a risky scheme that failed in the last census?

A: No! The adjustment in 1990 was rejected not because of accuracy but because of politics. The experts at the Census Bureau recommended that the 1990 Census be adjusted. The statistical sampling that was used in the last Census would have improved accuracy. President Bush's Commerce Secretary made the decision not to use sampling despite the recommendation of the Director of the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau has had nearly a decade to learn from the lessons of the 1990 Census and to craft a plan based on the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences. Experts, not politicians, created this plan.

Q. Doesn't the Constitution require an "actual enumeration" - and doesn't that mean a door-to-door count?

A. The Constitution requires only that an "actual enumeration" of U.S. citizens be conducted every 10 years, and the most accurate count possible is what the Constitution's framers had in mind since census data provides the fuel for a functioning democracy. Door-to-door enumeration by itself no longer accomplishes the most accurate census possible. As a panel from the National Research Council observed, 'It is fruitless to continue trying to count every last person with traditional census methods of physical enumeration.' Modern statistical sampling will no get a perfect count, either. But experts say it will come much closer... The Census Bureau's methodology- designed as it is reduce chronic inaccuracy- upholds the spirit of the Constitution better than an error-plagued head count. The sampling design proposed for Census 2000 will produce just one number of known accuracy.

Q. How will the sampling be done?

A: A nationwide survey (perhaps as large as 750,000 households) will measure census accuracy by age, race, sex, Hispanic origin, and other factors. Combining the initial census responses with this quality check will produce the most complete census ever.

Q. What does scientific sampling get you?

A: The Census Bureau's modern scientific sampling plan will produce a more accurate count, ensuring that everyone is counted and no one is counted more than once. Scientific methods also overcome other problems associated with conducting a large, complex census, e.g. different response rates to the form among different segments of the population, can bias results.

Q. Why bother with a census if the scientific methods are so good?

A: According to the Constitution, the Census Bureau must make a good faith effort to contact everyone. And because the census is the only source of information on neighborhoods and other small geographical areas, local officials must trust the numbers to meet their planning needs. Sampling is not a substitute for the census. It is, however, a cost-effective way of completing the job and improving the results.

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