Census

The Decennial Census

The primary census questions relate to age, sex, Hispanic origin, race, and whether the person usually resides in the home. The relationship of each person living or staying in the home to the person completing the form is obtained, plus whether that house, apartment, or mobile home is owned or rented. The question on Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin has been asked since 1970. The format of the question on race has varied with the option of selecting more than one race in 2000 and 2010.

Statistics from the 1790 to 2010 censuses represent the historical record for the U.S. population. The Census Bureau has been innovative in electronic dissemination, releasing data promptly and empowering data users with easy analytical access. The decennial censuses were long known for core activities to gather data on the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the U.S. population, with wide reporting in government, private, and scholarly sources. The Census Bureau implements other federal surveys for examining labor force trends, health status, program participation, and other topics. The Current Population Survey (CPS) is the key monthly survey for reporting employment and unemployment statistics, annual income measures and official poverty rates, and other detailed characteristics of marital and living arrangements, educational attainment, and health insurance coverage.

American Community Survey

As the population has grown and diversified, dramatic changes have occurred in implementing this count as technologies evolved from hand calculations and early tabulating machines to efficient, high-capacity computers, personal computers, and portable devices. Modes of research range from using computer workstations for accessing online tabulations and downloading data files to analyzing highly detailed, confidential datasets within controlled and secured data enclaves.

Most countries are without population registration and statistical systems for recording birth, death, and migration statistics, and censuses have historically compensated for data gaps. Poorer nations tend to take censuses less frequently, and [Page 327]richer nations tend to take regular and accurate censuses of their populations, with wide dissemination of statistics. Although the U.S. Census Bureau has considerable capabilities for gathering statistics on complex population structures, the costs of data collection, processing, and dissemination were escalating, so the agency made the critical decision to alter the decennial census. The 2000 Census was the last census to involve collection of both basic population and housing data for all housing units and detailed characteristics through the long-form census form administered to about 1 in 6 households.

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