Sampling and the Census
Subtitle: A CASE AGAINST THE PROPOSED ADJUSTMENTS FOR UNDERCOUNT
Publisher: AEI Press
Published: January 25, 1999
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 140
ISBN-13: 9780844741024
Subjects: Population & demography; Social research & statistics; Social Science; Methodology; Demography; Statistics; Politics / Current Events; Sampling (Statistics); Sociology; Research; Politics - Current Events; Government - U.S. Government; Political Science / General; United States; Census, 22nd, 2000; Census; Census undercounts; Methodolgy
First sentence: The decennial census scheduled for the year 2000 carries out a requirement in the U.S. Constitution first implemented in 1790.
Description: How to conduct Census 2000 has become a highly contentious issue, and the delay in selecting an approach threatens the census's eventual effectiveness. In dispute is the proposed "census sampling" technique for addressing the problem of undercount. Because census data are used to apportion federal funds and to determine how congressional seats are divided among and within states, the ultimate decision will have an important political effect.

Media reports misleadingly suggest that sampling would heighten the accuracy of the count. But in Sampling and the Census, Kenneth Darga presents a compelling case against the proposed procedure. In an attempt to address an inaccuracy at the national level, the adjustment would seriously undermine the reliability of census data at the state and local levels.