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Census Sampling Confusion
Controversy dogs the use of statistical methods to adjust U.S. population figures
To obtain a more accurate enumeration in the year 2000, the Census Bureau has proposed integrating the results of conventional counting techniques with the results of a large sample survey of the population, but others want to stick with the straight count.
References:
Brown, L.D., et al. Preprint. Statistical controversies in Census 2000. Technical Report 537, Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley. Available at http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/tech-reports/index.html.
Bureau of the Census. 1999. Updated Summary: Census 2000 Operational Plan (February). Available at http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/letter1.html.
Moore, D.S. 1999. Statistical methods in the Census. Notices of the American Mathematical Society 46(March):317.
Prewitt, K. 1999. Census 2000—Science meets politics. Science 283(Feb. 12):935.
Wright, T. 1999. A one-number census: Some related history. Science 283(Jan. 22):491.
______. 1998. Sampling and Census 2000: The concepts. American Scientist 86(May-June):245.
Further Readings:
Eaton, M.L., et al. 1998. Sampling and Census 2000. SIAM News 31(November):1.
Kestenbaum, D. 1998. Census 2000: Where science and politics count equally. Science 279(Feb. 6):798.
Peterson, I. 1997. Compromise reached on census sampling. Science News 152(Nov. 22):327.
______. 1997. Sampling and the census. Science News 152(October 11):238.
Samuelson, R.J. 1999. Politics and the Census. Newsweek (Feb. 8):48.
Schilling, M. 1998. Census 2000: Count on controversy. Math Horizons (November):20.
U.S. General Accounting Office. 1998. Decennial census: Overview of historical census issues. Report GAO/GGD-98-103. Available at http://www.gao.gov/.
______. 1997. 2000 Census: Progress made on design, but risks remain. Report GAO/GGD-97-142. Available at http://www.gao.gov/.
Walterscheid, E. 1998. Getting to know you. The Sciences (May/June):20.
Information about the Census 2000 Initiative, which is aimed at raising awareness of the value of an accurate, fair, and comprehensive census, can be found at http://www.census2000.org/.
Sources:
Barbara Everitt Bryant
University of Michigan
National Quality Research Center
School of Business Administration
701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1243
David A. Freedman
Department of Statistics
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-0001
David S. Moore
Purdue University
Department of Statistics
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1399
Web site: http://www.amstat.org/
Kenneth Prewitt
U.S. Bureau of the Census
Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
Web site: http://www.census.gov/
Donald B. Rubin
Department of Statistics
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138-2901
Martin T. Wells
School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Web site: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/ilr/Directories/Wells_Martin.html
Tommy Wright
Statistical Research Division
U.S. Bureau of the Census
Washington, DC 20233
From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 10, March 6, 1999, p. 152. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
