Census 2000 Essays - Survey Methodology, Sampling, Demography

Census 2000 The plan for the 2000 census will make an unprecendent effort to contact every living person living in the United States and will contact more people than in any previous census. With statistical methods for nonrespondents, the Census 2000 will be the most complete accounting of the U.S. population ever. Statistical Sampling should not be a partisan issue . It is an American issue. It's about making sure that every American really and literally counts. It's about gathering fair and accurate information that we absolutely have to have if we are going to determine who we are and what we have to do to prepare all our people for the 21st century. We do a census every 10 years. Even the first time, when Thomas Jefferson sent federal marshals on horseback, we relied on the system of going to the households to count these people (Riche 34). As the years continued on and the population grew, It began to be more time consuming and progressively more expensive. In 1970, we started counting people by mail. We asked that Americans fill out the census forms and then send them back for processing (Riche 34). This is the current method in use. We know that the census missed 8 million Americans living in inner-cities and in remote rural areas in 1990 (Clinton par.3 ). We also know that we double-counted 4 million Americans, many of whom had their own home (Riche 34). The census missed 482,738 in the state of Texas; 66,748 of them in Houston alone (Clinton par. 3). With the current method of the census, the problem are not getting solved. Congress concluded in 1990 that the census failed on two grounds: It cost too much and measured two few people (Riche 35). Inaccurate information causes some of the biggest problems. For example, the United way recieves generous grants for very wealthy individuals. If the census is inaccurate, then it has an indirect effect on private investments of peoples' and governments' investments as well (Clinton par. 6). More than half of the under-counted in the last census were children(Clinton Par.4). A disproportionate number of under-counted Americans were minorities. That means some of our most vulnerable populations routinely are omitted when it comes time to providing federal funds for critical services (Riche 35). An inaccurate census distorts our understanding of the needs of our people and, in many respects, diminishes the quality of life not just for them, but for the rest of us as well (FAQ of statistical sampling). The WIC program is a great example. The Congress and the President have had a good success in getting a bypatisan majority to put more money into the program. But the funds, once appropriated, can only flow where they're needed if there is an accurate count of where the kids are (Clinton par.9). So, ironically, no matter how much money we appropriate for WIC, unless we actually can track where the children are, the program will be less than fully sucessful(Clinton par. 9). Hispanic Americans are expected to triple in the next 50 years, comprise almost 100 million residents( Census Report 1994). And interestingly, those populations are located in five of the six largest states of this country--Texas being one of them. Those five states comprise 170 electorial votes, 63 percent. In fact there is another 8 states that have large Hispanic populations. It is very possible that Hispanics hold the key to the future to the electorial college and the presidency. Getting an accurate count for aid is vital to this district which is composed of about 100,000 hispanic (1990 Census). Cost is another problem with the current method. In 1970, using the number of households counted divided into the total cost of census and adjusting for inflation, the cost was 10 dollars per household (Riche 35). The 1990 census cost 25 dollars (Riche 35). The census is very critical to the budget. The cost is staggering-- $4 billion is what expected in the year 2000 (FAQ of statistical sampling). And, again, that includes sampling. So we know if sampling is not allowed for, that cost may even rise another $700 milllion (Riche 35). Thats's a staggering amount, yet at the same-- the repercussions are