Census 2000 by the numbers

Tuesday, March 28th 2000

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I've been an avid user of United States Census Bureau data over the years, and really have been looking forward to getting my census form this year.

In school, they have even been giving children assignments that require them to get information off the census forms at home. This was quite a good idea to educate them as to the importance of the decennial census and reinforce that to their parents too. The Census Bureau even sent special packages of information to businesses and churches with posters and prepared announcements to reinforce participation.

Last week, I thought it came in the mail, but it was just the notice that it would be coming soon. When it came Monday, I was surprised how large it was: a 40 page booklet, a cover letter from the director, and a postage paid envelope were inside.

I happened to have been chosen as one of the "one in six" households to receive the long form, used as a sampling tool to determine detailed demographics for an area. Realizing that the U.S. Postal Service says that a nine-digit zip code is typically 6 homes, it would appear that the sampling equates to one household per block face. The rest of the populace would have been sent the simpler short form, with only seven questions relating to name, sex, age, race and relationship of household members, whether they are of Hispanic origin, and whether the home is owned or rented.

10:00 PM	I started working on my form, by reviewing the contents and reading the letter. The section begins with the cover of the booklet itself asking for the number of people at this residence, then a listing of their names inside. Next come the actual person-by-person details.
10:02 PM	It begins with simple questions about age, race and marital status at first, then proceeds to education, citizenship, disabilities and duty in the armed services. There is quite an extensive section about employment (where, what industry, transportation, hours, occupation, duties, and income).
10:17 PM	The questions about the first person are over, now on to a section about the household. This part includes questions about the residence ownership, type, size, age, facilities and fuels used. There were some questions about annualized fuel costs, mortgage / principal / insurance payments and market value. I had to circle some of these to come back to later after digging through my files.
10:23 PM	Start individual number two. Going a bit faster having seen the questions once already.
10:26 PM	Begin the section for the children (3).
10:37 PM	Everyone has been completed. Time to go to the file cabinet and find some utility bills and mortgage statements.
10:43 PM	All through and inserted correctly into the provided envelope. I feel like a good citizen.

So, I donated about 45 minutes of one night for my family of five, to make a contribution to the collective demographic snapshot of the United States. I look forward to seeing the results of the Census Bureau’s efforts, compiling all our individual characteristics into the profile upon which we will base many decisions for the next ten years.