| 100 percent data |
Population and housing information collected for all living quarters in the United States. See sample data, long form, and short form. |
| 100 percent edited detail file |
Files composed of individual records of information on persons and housing units for the 100 percent census data items from the census questionnaires. Estimation is included in these files. These files are used for tabulation purposes and are not released to the public. |
| A Streamlined Acquisition Process |
The process the Census Bureau uses to acquire services. There are six phases: 1) bureau integrated strategic planning and budgeting, 2) project planning, 3) market research, 4) selection acquisition vehicle, 5) meet project objective and manage acquisition, and 6) close-out. |
| Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation |
A coverage measurement methodology that will be used to determine the number of people and housing units missed or counted more than once in Census 2000. |
| Address |
The house number and street name or other designation assigned to a housing unit, special place, business establishment, or other structure for purposes of mail delivery or to allow emergency services, delivery people, and visitors to find the structure. See basic street address, city-style address, E-911 address, fire number, house number and street name address, location description, mailing address, and noncity-style address. |
| Address break |
The city-style address on each side of a legal boundary: for example, 1234 Main Street is inside an incorporated place and 1236 is outside the place |
| Address coding guide |
A forerunner of the Geographic Base File/Dual Independent Map Encoding file and TIGER® file |
| Address control file |
The 1990 residential address list used to label questionnaires, control the mail response check-in operation, and determine the nonresponse followup workload. See master address file. |
| Address List Review Program and Address List Map Review Program |
Also called Local Update of Census Addresses. Census 2000 programs, established in response to requirements of Public Law 103-430, that provide an opportunity for local and tribal governments to review and update individual address information in the master address file and associated geographic information in the TIGER® database to improve the completeness and accuracy of both computer files. The governments must sign a confidentiality agreement to participate. |
| Address listing |
A field operation to develop the Census 2000 address list in areas of predominantly noncity-style addresses. The lister enters, in an address register, all mailing addresses and/or physical locations for all places within a specified area. The lister marks the location of each residential structure on an assignment area block map by drawing a map spot and assigning a map spot number. The lister also updates and corrects the map if necessary. |
| Address range |
The lowest and highest house numbers along each side of a street segment that has city-style addresses. The U.S. Census Bureau usually expands the range to include all possible numbers, not just the existing ones (for example, the Census Bureau expands the actual addresses of 105-131 on the odd numbered side of the 100 block of a street to 101-199). Usually an address range on one side of a street contains only even or only odd numbers, but sometimes one or both sides contain both. |
| Address register |
A book used by field staff to record or verify addresses and related information for all living quarters in an assignment area. It also includes: 1) instructions on how to perform the job and 2) a set of maps for the assigned area. |
| Address register area |
Term used in 1990. Now called an assignment area. |
| Administrative and Customer Services Division |
Census Bureau. The ACSD offers administrative services to internal customers. It prepares publications ,such as, The Statistical Abstract of the United States and provides external customers with the links to the American FactFinder. |
| Advance Census Report |
In previous censuses, an unaddressed, short form questionnaire delivered by U.S. Postal Service letter carriers in advance of the actual enumeration in list/enumerate areas. Enumerators picked up any completed ACRs, checked them for completeness and consistency, transferred the responses to standard census questionnaires, and completed any missing information. These will be used only in the Island Areas for Census 2000. |
| Advance notice letter/reminder card |
These are part of the questionnaire mailing strategy.
ANL: In every area except list/enumerate, the Census Bureau will send an advance notice letter to every mailout address to alert households that the census form will be sent to them soon.
RC: This is a postcard sent to addresses on the decennial master address file to remind respondents to return their census questionnaires or to thank them if they already have. All addresses in mailout/mailback areas will receive a postcard. The Census Bureau will blanket mail these postcards to postal patrons (no addresses) in update/leave areas. |
| Advance Post Office Check |
Obsolete term. See postal check. |
| Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act |
Legislation (Public Law 92-203) enacted in 1972 establishing the Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native Villages to conduct business and nonprofit activities by and for Alaska Natives. |
| Alaska Native Regional Corporation |
A corporate entity organized to conduct both business and nonprofit affairs of Alaska Natives pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. |
| Alaska Native Village (ANV) |
A type of local governmental unit in Alaska that constitutes an association, band, clan, community, group, tribe, or village recognized pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. ANVs do not have legally defined boundaries. See Alaska Native Village statistical area, governmental unit, and legal entity. |
| Alaska Native Village Statistical Area (ANVSA) |
A decennial census statistical area that represents the geographic jurisdiction of an Alaska Native Village (ANV) as established for the Census Bureau by officials of the ANV and its Alaska Native Regional Corporation for the purpose of presenting census data. |
| American Community Survey |
A monthly sample household survey similar to the long form census questionnaire. It was first tested in 1996 and is expected to replace the long form for the 2010 census. Beginning in 2003, the nationwide monthly sample survey will provide annual data for social, economic, and housing characteristics. At first, the data will be available for states, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas with a minimum population of 250,000; then, in 2004, a minimum population of 65,000; and in 2008, small geographic entities. |
| American FactFinder |
A generalized electronic system for access and dissemination of Census Bureau data. The system is available through the Internet and offers prepackaged data products and the ability to build custom products. The system will serve as the vehicle for accessing and disseminating data from Census 2000 (as well as the 1997 Economic Censuses and the American Community Survey). The system was formerly known as the Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS). |
| American Indian and Alaska Native Area (AIANA) |
A Census Bureau term referring to these entity types: American Indian Reservation, American Indian subreservation area, American Indian trust land, state designated American Indian statistical area, tribal jurisdictional statistical area, tribal designated statistical area, tribal subdivision, Alaska Native Regional Corporation, Alaska Native Village, or Alaska Native Village statistical area. |
| American Indian Area (AIA) |
A generic Census Bureau grouping that includes reference to any or all of the following areas: American Indian Reservation, American Indian trust lands, tribal jurisdiction statistical area, or tribal designated statistical area. |
| American Indian Reservation |
An American Indian geographic entity with boundaries established by treaty, statute, or executive or court order. Federal and some state governments have established reservations as territory over which American Indians have governmental jurisdiction. These entities are designated as colonies, communities, pueblos, rancherias, reservations, and reserves. See American Indian and Alaska Native area, governmental unit, and legal entity. |
| American Indian Tribal Subdivision |
An administrative subdivision of an American Indian Reservation. Tribal subdivisions may extend beyond the boundary of their reservations. These entities are internal units of self government or administration that serve social, cultural, or economic purposes for the American Indians living on and adjacent to the reservation. |
| American Indian Trust Land (TL) |
Land held in trust by the federal government for either a tribe (tribal trust land) or an individual member of a tribe (individual trust land). Such land always is associated with a specific federally recognized reservation or tribe but may be located on or off the reservation. The Census Bureau recognizes and tabulate data separately only for off-reservation trust lands. See American Indian Reservation and Hawaiian Homelands. |
| Apportionment |
The number of representatives that a state is entitled to in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the decennial census. See reapportionment and redistricting. |
| Assignment Area |
A geographic area established by the Census Bureau for a specific field operation for the census. An AA consists of one or more census blocks for most operations and is assigned to a single enumerator, lister, or other field staff to obtain information about the residents and living quarters within the boundaries of the AA. Formerly called an address register area and an enumeration district. See assignment area map and collection geography. |
| Assignment area map |
A map that shows the area assigned to a member of the field staff for a specific census operation. The map displays the individual roads, streets, and nonstreet features (and their names, if any) in and adjacent to the AA, and, if appropriate, the city-style address ranges of the roads and streets or the census collection block numbers within the AA. See assignment area, block map, collection block, and locator map. |
| Assignment control |
For all field operations, clerks check the accuracy and completeness of work returned from the field to the local census office. This procedure takes on critical importance for nonresponse followup and list/enumerate. |
| Assignment preparation |
The coordination, preparation, and assembly of all materials including maps, registers, and questionnaires by assignment area. This operation is performed at the regional census centers for address listing and block canvassing and at the local census offices for other field operations. Map pouch labels and maps are printed in the regional census centers. |
| Assistant to the associate director |
Census Bureau. The AAD for the decennial census reports to the associate director for the decennial census. The AAD is responsible for the Decennial Management Division, the Decennial Statistical Studies Division, Geography Division, and Decennial Systems and Contract Management Office. |
| Associate director |
Census Bureau. The AD for the decennial census reports to the principal associate director for programs. The AD directs and is spokesperson for the decennial census of population and housing and the geographic support program that is the foundation for that census and most other economic and demographic programs of the Census Bureau. |
| Asynchronous Transfer Mode |
A process that increases the amount of information that can be electronically transferred at one time between sites |
| Automated Address Range Program |
A program for achieving consistent address/block number relationships between field-verified residential addresses in the master address file and address ranges in the TIGER® database. |
| Automated Data Processing (ADP) |
The data processing operations performed by a system of electronic or electrical machines |
| Automated Master Address File Geocoding Office Operation |
A computer match that attempts to geocode city-style addresses in the master address file after street features, names, address ranges, and ZIP code information have been inserted into the TIGER® database from digital files from a local government or commercial source. See TIGER®, TIGER® improvement program, targeted map update, census map preview, Boundary and Annexation Survey, digital exchange file, and geocode. |
| Bar code |
A code consisting of a group of printed and patterned bars designed to be scanned and read into computer memory |
| Barrio |
A legal subdivision of a municipio in Puerto Rico, treated as a minor civil division by the Census Bureau. See barrio-pueblo, county subdivision, legal entity, and minor civil division. |
| Barrio-pueblo |
A legal subdivision of a municipio in Puerto Rico, treated as a minor civil division by the Census Bureau. The barrio-pueblo is differentiated from other barrios because it is the historical center and seat of government of its municipio. See barrio, county subdivision, legal entity, and minor civil division. |
| Basic Street Address (BSA) |
The house number and street name portion of an address, such as, 11 Main Street. The BSA does not include designations for apartments, units, lots, and the like at the BSA. However, when the address for a specific structure is identified by a number followed by a fraction or letter, such as, 11 ½ or 11A, the fraction or letter is part of the BSA. See address, city-style address, house number and street name address, and mailing address. |
| Be Counted enumeration and Be Counted form |
Includes the Be Counted enumeration procedure and the Be Counted form. The enumeration procedure targets areas that are traditionally undercounted. Unaddressed census questionnaires (Be Counted forms) are placed at selected sites where people who believe they were not counted can pick them up, complete them, and mail them to the Census Bureau. The sites are in targeted areas that local governments and community groups, in conjunction with the Census Bureau, have identified as traditionally undercounted. |
| Be Counted field verification |
This operation verifies the existence and the residential status of addresses given to the Census Bureau through the Be Counted program. Any address that is verified is added to the master address file. |
| Best and final offer |
The final and best technical and price solution a vendor provides for a request for proposal in response to a call from the government contracting officer |
| Beta site |
Located at headquarters, the beta site is an independent operation to test and assure quality, completeness, and security of software systems, hardware systems, and network systems before release to a production environment. |
| Beta testing |
Ensures that the hardware, software, and communication components are functioning properly before release to the various decennial operating units. |
| Blanket mailing |
There are two definitions for this term:
The mailing to all postal patrons (no addresses) of reminder cards or other forms.
A strategy that was considered but not implemented for Census 2000: the mailing of replacement questionnaires to either all addresses or all addresses in areas that have anticipated low response rates. |
| Block |
A geographic area bounded on all sides by visible or nonvisible features shown on census maps. A block is the smallest geographic entity for which the Census Bureau collects and tabulates decennial census information. See block boundary, block number, collection block, statistical entity, or tabulation block. |
| Block boundary |
A census map feature, visible (street, road, stream, shoreline, and so forth) or nonvisible (county line, city limit, property line, and so forth), that delimits a census block. Two or more features usually delimit a block, but a single feature may delimit a block in the case of an island or a circular street. A boundary generally must include at least one addressable feature, that is, a feature that can have an address assigned to it. The boundary of a state or county is always a block boundary. |
| Block Boundary Suggestion Project |
The first phase of the Census Bureau's Public Law 94-171 program that provides an opportunity for states to suggest visible features, such as, block boundaries, that are or may be voting district boundaries for the decennial census |
| Block canvassing |
A Census 2000 field operation that ensures the quality of the master address file within the mailout/mailback area (city-style addresses). The Census Bureau sends canvassers into the field to canvass their assignment areas and ensure that the master address file contains a mailing address for every living quarters. They especially seek hidden housing units, such as, attics, basements, or garages converted into housing units, or houses that appear to be one unit but which actually contain multiple housing units. They also update and correct the census maps. Formerly called precanvass and targeted canvassing. See blue line and canvass. |
| Block cluster |
A single block or a group of blocks, varying in size |
| Block Definition Project |
A program similar to the Block Boundary Suggestion Project. It applies only to American Indian Reservations and Puerto Rico. |
| Block Group (BG) |
A combination of census blocks that is a statistical subdivision of a census tract. Geographic block groups never cross census tracts but may cross the boundaries of county subdivisions, places, urbanized areas, voting districts, and so forth. Tabulation block groups may be split to present data for every unique combination of county subdivision, place, and the like. |
| Block map |
A large scale map of an individual census collection block showing the individual roads, streets, and other features, together with their names (if any) within and adjacent to the block. Field staff use block maps to guide them in their canvass of each block, to annotate map changes, and to mark (map spot) and number the location of each residential structure. See assignment area map, collection block, block number, and map spot. |
| Block number |
Collection block numbers and tabulation block numbers are assigned to each census block |
| Block Numbering Area (BNA) |
Small statistical subdivisions of a county for grouping and numbering blocks in nonmetropolitan counties where local committees of census data users have not established census tracts |
| Blue line |
A boundary defining the area included in mailout/mailback. Essentially, these are areas that have city delivery of mail. |
| Boarded up |
A housing condition in which the doors or windows of a building have been covered to prevent destruction or entry. |
| Borough |
A county equivalent in Alaska, a minor civil division in New York, and an incorporated place in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. See governmental unit. |
| Boundary |
A line identifying the extent of a geographic entity, such as, a block, census tract, county, or place. The legal boundaries the Census Bureau recognizes for a census are those in place on the first day of the census year. |
| Boundary and Annexation Survey |
An annual survey of all incorporated places and all counties conducted by the Census Bureau to determine the correct legal limits and related information as of January 1 of the survey year. See automated master address file geocoding office operation, TIGER®, TIGER® improvement program, targeted map update, and census map preview. |
| Building |
Usually a separate structure that has open space on all sides. Townhouses are separate buildings. Some buildings can be used both as a residence and a business, as in the case of an apartment located above a grocery store. |
| Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) |
Department of Commerce. The BEA's goal is to provide a clear picture of the United States economy by preparing, developing, and interpreting the national income and product accounts (summarized by the gross domestic product) as well as aggregate measures of international, regional, and state economic activity. |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) |
Department of Labor. The BLS is the principal fact-finding agency for the federal government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. |
| Callback |
Repeat telephone calls an enumerator makes to a living quarters to obtain information |
| Callback record page |
A page in an address register used to record information about each callback an enumerator makes to a living quarters to obtain information |
| Canvass |
To systematically travel, block by block, every street, road, path, and the like in an assignment area identifying every place where people live or could live |
| Casing check |
See postal check. |
| Census |
A complete enumeration of a population or the business and commercial establishments, farms, or governments in an area. See decennial census. |
| Census 2000 library |
A depository of key Census 2000 documents using an electronic document tracking system. See Personal Computer Document Organization and Control System. |
| Census 2000 Publicity Office |
Census Bureau. Develops, implements, and coordinates an integrated marketing program for Census 2000, including paid advertising, direct mail, public relations, partnerships, and local outreach. |
| Census 2000 Committee on Statistical Policy |
This committee is composed of policy makers and technicians who provide external review and advice. The group reviews policy matters as they affect decisions about statistical methods to be used. |
| Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994 |
See Public Law 103-430. |
| Census Advisory Committee |
The committee's official name is the Commerce Secretary's 2000 Census Advisory Committee. This committee is approved by the Secretary of Commerce and composed of members of the public. It meets two or more times a year to give advice to the Census Bureau. |
| Census area |
The statistical equivalent of a county in Alaska. Census areas are delineated cooperatively with the State of Alaska for statistical purposes in the portions of Alaska not within an organized borough. |
| Census block |
See block. |
| Census Bureau |
Department of Commerce. The Census Bureau is the country's preeminent statistical collection and dissemination agency. It publishes a wide variety of statistical data about people and the economy of the nation. The Census Bureau conducts approximately 200 annual surveys and conducts the decennial census of the United States population and the quinquennial census of industry. |
| Census County Division (CCD) |
A subdivision of a county that is a relatively permanent statistical area established cooperatively by the Census Bureau and local government authorities. Used for presenting decennial census statistics in those states that do not have well defined and stable minor civil divisions that serve as local governments. |
| Census Day |
The reference date for collection of census information. For the decennial census, this has been April 1 of the decade year (year ending with zero) since the 1930 census. |
| Census Designated Place (CDP) |
A statistical entity comprising a dense concentration of population that is not within an incorporated place but is locally identified by a name. CDPs are delineated cooperatively with state and local and tribal government officials based on Census Bureau guidelines. For the first time in Census 2000, CDPs do not have to meet a population threshold to qualify for tabulation of census data. See comunidad, place, statistical entity, and zona urbana. |
| Census division |
See division (census geographic). |
| Census edited file |
This file contains the 100 percent edited characteristics/records for all households and persons in the census. The edits include consistency edits and imputation for items or persons where the data are insufficient. See 100 percent data and census unedited file. |
| Census field office |
A temporary Census Bureau office to be established in Census 2000 to manage address listing field work, conduct local recruiting, and create a local presence |
| Census geography |
A collective term referring to the geographic entities used by the Census Bureau for data collection and tabulation. There is collection geography and tabulation geography. |
| Census identification number |
A number associating a response with a specific address in the master address file |
| Census map |
Any map produced by the Census Bureau. A census map displays geographic entities used in a Census Bureau census or survey for which the Census Bureau tabulates data. |
| Census map preview |
A Census 2000 program that asked local government officials to review census maps. See automated master address file geocoding office operation, TIGER®, TIGER® improvement program, targeted map update, and Boundary and Annexation Survey. |
| Census Monitoring Board |
Established by public law, the function of the board is "to observe and monitor all aspects of the preparation and implementation of the 2000 decennial census (including all dress rehearsals and other simulations of a census in preparation therefore)." The board ceases to exist on September 30, 2001. |
| Census Operational Managers |
COM is a steering group responsible for designing and conducting efficient operations consistent with Census 2000 policies, goals, objectives, and strategies. This group replaces the 1990 Program Steering Committees. |
| Census region |
See region. |
| Census statistical areas committee |
A committee established by local government officials and other interested individuals to identify, in cooperation with the Census Bureau, the census tracts, block groups, census designated places, and other statistical entities for the area it serves |
| Census statistical areas key person |
A person designated by a census statistical areas committee to act as its contact person with the Census Bureau |
| Census subarea |
Statistical subdivisions of boroughs and census areas (county equivalents) in Alaska. |
| Census tract |
See tract. |
| Census tract number |
See tract number. |
| Census
unedited file |
A file created by merging the control file for the decennial master address file with the decennial response file of unedited data after the primary selection algorithm has been applied. This file contains the final housing unit and person counts. It is used to generate apportionment data as well as related "raw" or unedited census data. |
| City |
A type of incorporated place in all states and the District of Columbia. In agreement with the State of Hawaii, however, the Census Bureau does not recognize the city of Honolulu for presentation of decennial census data. In Virginia, all cities are not part of any county, and the Census Bureau treats them as county equivalents as well as places for purposes of data presentation; there also is one such independent city in each of three states: Maryland, Missouri, and Nevada. In 20 states, some or all cities are not part of any minor civil division, and the Census Bureau treats them as county subdivisions for purposes of data presentation. See county equivalent, county subdivision, governmental unit, incorporated place, and independent city. |
| City delivery area |
An area: 1) in which post offices deliver mail to addresses consisting of a house number and street name AND 2) which consists of city delivery routes as designated by the U.S. Postal Service. Some homes and establishments in a city delivery area may choose to use a post office/drawer or general delivery for their mail. See city-style address, nondelivery area, and rural delivery area. |
| City-style address |
An address that consists of a house number and street name: for example, 201 Main Street. The address may or may not be used for the delivery of mail and may include apartment numbers/designations or similar identifiers. See address, basic street address, house number and street name address, mailing address, and noncity-style address. |
| Coefficient of variation |
The ratio of the standard error (square root of the variance) to the value being estimated, usually expressed in terms of a percentage (also known as the relative standard deviation). The lower the CV, the higher the relative reliability of the estimate. |
| Collection block |
A physical block enumerated as a single geographic area, regardless of any legal or statistical boundaries passing through it. (Except the state and county boundaries are always block boundaries.) See block, block number, and tabulation block. |
| Collection geography |
The geographic entities used by the Census Bureau for taking a census. For Census 2000, a census field office or local census office/crew leader district/assignment area collection block identifies a unique geographic area. See tabulation geography. |
| Columbia |
Eleven counties in South Carolina, including the city of Columbia, comprised the Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal site where a traditional census was tested. |
| COMGRAMS |
An informal but official memorandum documenting minor decisions. These are issued by the Census Operational Managers. |
| Commerce Administrative Management System |
A system integrating financial and related subsystems for management and administration |
| Commerce Business Daily |
A newspaper published by the Department of Commerce in which all procurement notices and awards in the federal government are listed |
| Commercial building |
A building used principally for business purposes. It may contain residential living quarters. |
| Commercially available off-the-
shelf software |
Software which may be purchased and implemented for a particular application with minimal or no modification required |
| Commonwealth |
The legal designation for four states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) and two Island Areas (Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands). The Census Bureau does not use this term in presenting data. |
| Communidad |
A census designated place in Puerto Rico. See census designated place and zona urbana. |
| Compact Disk - Read Only Memory (CR-ROM) |
An optical disk that is created by a mastering process and used for storing large amounts of data. Unlike standard computer disks and diskettes, CD-ROMs can be used only to read stored data, not to update or change its content. |
| Complete Count Committee |
A volunteer committee established by local, and sometimes state, governments and comprised of a cross-section of community leaders, including representatives from government, education, business, religious organizations, community agencies, minority organizations, and the media. These committees are charged with developing and implementing a Census 2000 outreach, promotion, recruiting, and enumeration assistance plan of action designed to target and address the needs of their community. |
| Computer assisted personal interview |
A method of data collection consisting of the interviewer asking questions displayed on a laptop computer screen and entering the answers directly into the computer |
| Computer Assisted Survey Research Office |
Census Bureau. Provides automation and telecommunication technologies to improve the collection, processing, and dissemination of data. |
| Computer assisted telephone interviewing |
A method of data collection using telephone interviews in which the questions to be asked are displayed on a computer screen and responses are entered directly into the computer |
| Computer Services Division |
Census Bureau. Operates and manages the electronic computers and related ancillary equipment of the Census Bureau. Plans and provides the maintenance of this equipment at required hardware performance levels. |
| Concept of operations |
The U.S. Department of Commerce's reengineered acquisition process |
| Confidentiality |
The guarantee made by law (Title 13, United States Code) to individuals who provide census information regarding nondisclosure of that information to others. See privacy act and special sworn status individual. |
| Confidentiality edit |
The name for the Census 2000 disclosure avoidance procedure. |
| Congressional Affairs Office |
Census Bureau. Acts as a liaison between Congress and the Census Bureau. |
| Congressional district |
An area established by law for the election of representatives to the U.S. Congress. Each CD is to be as equal in population to all other CDs in the state as practicable, based on the decennial census counts. |
| Consolidated city |
An incorporated place that has combined its governmental functions with a county or county subdivision but contains one or more other incorporated places that continue to function as local governments within the consolidated government. See consolidated government, incorporated place, and legal entity. |
| Consolidated government |
A governmental unit that includes two or more legal entities that have joined together to form a common government; for example, a consolidated city-county government |
| Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) |
A geographic entity designated by the federal Office of Management and Budget for use by federal statistical agencies. An area becomes a CMSA if it qualifies as a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), has a population of 1 million or more, and has component parts that qualify as primary metropolitan statistical areas, provided local opinion favors the designation. CMSAs consist of whole counties except for the New England states, where they consist of cities and towns. |
| Content edit |
An operation including a review of questionnaires for missed answers or multiple entries. The edits are designed to improve data quality and reduce item nonresponse. |
| Continuity of Operations Plan |
Provides data capture center site-specific disaster response and disaster recovery plans. |
| Continuous measurement |
Census data is collected once every ten years. To provide a stream of data between decennial censuses, the Census Bureau is instituting the American Community Survey. |
| Conventional census |
See list/enumerate. |
| Correspondence Management Staff |
Census Bureau. Responsible for the controlling and processing of all incoming and outgoing correspondence directed to or signed by the Director or Deputy Director of the Census Bureau and the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, or Under Secretaries of the Department of Commerce. |
| Cost and Progress System for Census 2000 |
C&P refers to both the system and the reports generated by the system. The C&P system is a component of the management information system that reports on the cost and progress of address list development and data collection, capture, processing, and dissemination for Census 2000. (See Enterprise Information System.) |
| Count question resolution |
A process whereby state, local, and tribal government officials may obtain answers to their concerns about the accuracy and completeness of the Census 2000 counts. |
| County |
A type of governmental unit that is the primary legal subdivision of every state except Alaska and Louisiana (boroughs and parishes, respectively). The Island Areas also do not have counties as their primary legal subdivision (county is a minor civil division in American Samoa). See county equivalent and governmental unit. |
| County equivalent |
A geographic entity that is not legally referred to as a county but is recognized by the Census Bureau as equivalent to a county for purposes of data presentation. Because they contain no county-type subdivision, the Census Bureau treats the District of Columbia and Guam as county equivalents (as well as state equivalents). See also borough, census area, independent city, municipio, and parish. |
| County subdivision |
A legal or statistical division of a county recognized by the Census Bureau for data presentation. See barrio, barrio-pueblo, borough, census county division, county subarea, city, minor civil division, town, unorganized territory, and village. See legal entity and statistical entity. |
| Coverage edit/ coverage edit followup |
An edit performed on the mailback census response universe. Staff make telephone calls to resolve forms that are incomplete or have other coverage discrepancies, such as, a difference between the number of persons reported in that household and the number of persons for whom census information was provided on the form. This edit includes the large household followup. |
| Coverage improvement followup |
A procedure for the traditional census in which housing units with conflicting status information are followed up |
| Crew leader |
The immediate supervisor of a team of listers, enumerators, or other field staff for a decennial census. See crew leader district and field operations supervisor. |
| Crew leader district |
The district area assigned to a crew leader, formed by grouping together a number of enumerator assignment areas. |
| Crews of vessels |
The shipboard populations of U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and merchant marine vessels. For geographic purposes, they are assigned to the offshore area adjacent to their home port. |
| Customer Liaison Office |
Census Bureau. The CLO is the point of contact between the Census Bureau and its external customers, both public and private. The external customers include government organizations, such as, the State Data Centers, Business and Industry Data Centers, Census Information Centers, Governors' Liaisons for Census 2000, and Tribal Governmental Leaders, and nongovernment entities, such as, the national labor unions and national nonprofit organizations. |
| Dangerous settlements |
Compounds where listers have encountered dangerous situations, such as, militia groups. The listers are instructed to note the living quarters as a special place and to not interview. Though listed as a special place, special place operations will not be conducted at these living quarters. Procedures for listing and enumerating these settlements include interviewing the local postmaster and public officials. |
| Data Access and Dissemination System |
Now called the American FactFinder |
| Data capture audit and resolution |
This is an edit and review on response records. An edit compares a derived count of persons to the questionnaire count. Edit failures may be resolved in-house or referred to coverage followup. |
| Data capture center |
A decentralized facility that checks in questionnaires returned by mail, creates images of all questionnaire pages, and converts data to computer readable format. The DCCs also will perform other computer processing activities, including automated questionnaire edits, work flow management, and data storage. There is one permanent DCC, the National Processing Center. For Census 2000, the Census Bureau will set up three temporary DCCs. The temporary facilities will be provided and operated by a private contractor through the Data Capture Services contract. |
| Data Capture Management Information System |
A computerized management information system developed for use in the data capture centers. It provides automated tools to facilitate and support the management of the centers. |
| Data capture services contract |
The contract which provides the facilities for data capture center operations and services |
| Data Capture System 2000 |
The data capture system that will be used to capture information from census forms. This system will incorporate the following activities: processing more than 120 million incoming forms; digitally capturing and processing billions of bits of information on the forms; converting automatically the image of the form to text-based data; and editing/repairing data that the system is unable to decipher automatically. |
| Data Preparation Division |
Now called the National Processing Center |
| Decennial Applicant Name Check |
This automated system is used to screen all applicants' backgrounds for criminal histories to facilitate the selection, hiring, promotion, and payrolling of qualified and suitable applicants for the conduct of Census 2000. |
| Decennial census |
The census of population and housing, taken in each year ending in zero. Article 1, section 2 of the Constitution requires that a census be taken every 10 years for the purpose of apportioning the U.S. House of Representatives. The first census of population was taken in 1790. The Census Bureau first conducted the census of housing in 1940. |
| Decennial Cost Model |
The primary tool for documenting and analyzing budgetary resources needed to support program requirements. It contains assumptions and parameters used to describe and analyze the budget components. |
| Decennial Division Chiefs Steering Committee |
Consists of the various chiefs of the divisions and offices including the Census Operational Managers committee |
| Decennial field interface |
The collection of systems that will be used in the regional census centers, the census field offices, and the local census offices to control and manage the census data collection effort. It includes, among others, the operations control, payroll and personnel, map production, and management information systems. |
| Decennial Management Division |
Census Bureau. The DMD directs and monitors the decennial census. It coordinates and provides project management for all census operations; maintains the Master Activity Schedule, the Cost and Progress Reporting system, the Executive Information System, and the Cost Model; manages the decennial budget; manages decennial communications, issue resolution change control, and requirements documentation; and directs development of the census plan. |
| Decennial master address file |
The decennial version of the master address file has features for controlling and tracking the long- and short-term operations and programs of the Census 2000. The DMAF contains the processing status information to support document mailouts; data capture progress control, tracking, and reporting; and field enumeration processes (notably followups). The DMAF will be the base file for sampling housing units for programs, such as, long form implementation. The DMAF is limited to addresses that the Census Bureau has successfully linked to the TIGER® database. See master address file. |
| Decennial response file |
Contains every response to the census from all sources. The primary selection algorithm (PSA) is applied to this file to unduplicate persons between multiple returns for a housing unit and to determine the housing unit record and the persons to include at the housing unit. The DRF is then combined with the decennial master address file to create the census unedited file. |
| Decennial Statistical Studies Division |
Census Bureau. Develops mathematical and statistical techniques for the design and conduct of the census. |
| Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office |
Census Bureau. The DSCMO develops and manages major Census 2000 contracts to process Census 2000 data and disseminate data to the public. |
| Decision Memoranda Series |
These document major policy and design decisions as well as major changes to the Census 2000 operational plans. They are issued by the Issue Resolution/Change Control Board, the Census Operational Managers, or the executive staff. |
| Delete |
The status for an address in the master address file that no longer qualifies as a living quarters |
| Delivery sequence file |
A computerized file containing all delivery point addresses serviced by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The USPS updates the DSF continuously as its letter carriers identify addresses for new delivery points or changes in the status of existing addresses. |
| Demographic Analysis |
An independent, macro-level approach to validate the census results. Estimates using demographic analysis are based on aggregate sets of administrative data including birth and death records, immigration statistics, and medicare data. |
| Demographic Statistical Methods Division |
Census Bureau. Develops mathematical and statistical techniques for the design and conduct of the demographic sample surveys. |
| Demographic Surveys Division |
Census Bureau. Performs a wide range of demographic surveys. |
| Department of Commerce (DOC) |
U.S. Government. The Department of Commerce promotes job creation, economic growth, sustainable development, and
improved living standards for all Americans. The Department of Commerce includes the Bureau of Export Administration, Economic Development Administration, International Trade Administration, Patent and Trademark Office, Minority Business Development Agency, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Technical Information Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the various agencies NOAA oversees. |
| Department of Defense (DOD) |
U.S. Government. The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. |
| Deputy director |
Census Bureau. Assists the director in the direction of the Census Bureau and performs the functions of the director in the latter's absence. |
| Digital exchange file |
An electronic file of roads and streets, their names, address ranges, and ZIP codes obtained from a local government or commercial source and used to update TIGER® |
| Digital line graph |
Digital information derived by the U.S. Geological Survey from its maps |
| Direct access |
An entrance to a living quarters directly from the outside of the building or through a common or public hall (as in an apartment building) |
| Direct sample followup |
A methodology for nonresponse followup sampling, whereby the initial response period will stop at a specified date and a sample will be selected from all remaining nonresponding units |
| Director |
Census Bureau. Determines policies and directs the programs of the Census Bureau, taking into account applicable legislative requirements and the needs of users of statistical information. |
| Disclosure avoidance |
Statistical methods used in the tabulation of data prior to releasing data products to ensure the confidentiality of responses |
| District office |
A pre-Census 2000 term for local offices established by the Census Bureau to conduct the decennial census. See census field office and local census office. |
| Division (census geographic) |
A grouping of states within a census geographic region, established by the Census Bureau for the presentation of census data. The nine divisions (East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic, Mountain, New England, Pacific, South Atlantic, West North Central, and West South Central) are intended to represent relatively homogeneous areas that are subdivisions of the four census geographic regions. |
| Dress Rehearsal |
A census of population and housing conducted in selected areas prior to a decennial census to determine the effectiveness of planned census operations. The Census 2000 Dress Rehearsal was conducted in 1998 in Sacramento, California; Menominee County, Wisconsin, including the Menominee American Indian Reservation; and 11 counties in South Carolina, including the city of Columbia. |
| Dual Independent Map Encoding (DIME) |
This term was used in the 1990 census. See Geographic Base File/Dual Independent Map Encoding. |
| Dual System Estimation |
The estimation methodology used for the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (ACE). This operation uses a geographic sample of block clusters to find persons missed by the census or ACE and any errors from the census. The persons from the unedited census files are computer matched and then clerically matched to the data collected from the ACE interviews. After the computer matching, the person matching continues through the following steps: clerical matching, field followup to resolve discrepancies, and a final clerical matching. |
| E Sample |
This term is applicable to a sampling census. It represents people enumerated in the census in the sample block cluster for a Quality Check (ICM) operation. |
| E-911 address |
A number, usually unique within a county, posted on or near a structure, especially in rural areas, for use by emergency personnel to locate the structure. An E-911 address is a house number and street name address, which may or may not be used for mail delivery. |
| Early opening local census offices |
These are local census offices (LCOs) that will open a year earlier than other LCOs to conduct operations required for a traditional (nonsampling) census. |
| Economic Development Administration (EDA) |
Department of Commerce. The EDA helps generate new jobs, protect existing jobs, and stimulate commercial and industrial growth in economically distressed areas in the United States. |
| Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) |
Much of the statistical, economic, and demographic information collected by the federal government is made available to the public through the ESA. The ESA has two principal agencies: the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. |
| Embedded Housing Unit (EHU) |
One of two kinds of housing units found at a special place. An EHU is a housing unit within a group quarters where the occupants live separately from others living in the group quarters. An example of an EHU is a house parent's room in a dormitory. Embedded means located within the building and not free-standing. |
| Emergency shelters |
Includes shelters that operate on a first-come, first-served basis where people must leave in the morning and have no guaranteed beds for the next night or where people know they have a bed for a specified period of time even if they leave the building every day. Shelters also include facilities that provide temporary shelter during extremely cold weather (such as, churches) and facilities that provide emergency shelter for runaway or neglected children or abused women. Emergency shelters are service locations. See hotels, motels, or other facilities; regularly scheduled mobile food vans; service location; shelters for children who are runaways, neglected, or without housing; soup kitchens; and transitional shelters. |
| Enhanced list |
Listing of addresses in blocks selected to be included in the Integrated Coverage Measurement (ICM) Survey. This listing is conducted independently of the general address listing activities and is enhanced using additional procedures to obtain the most complete address listing possible. |
| Enterprise Information System or Executive Information System |
The system is used with the Census 2000 Cost and Progress Data System to access reports and data from the warehouse. The EIS is a system used to report to the Department of Commerce on decennial issues, the schedule, and the cost framework. |
| Enumerator |
A Census Bureau employee who interviews people to obtain information for a census questionnaire. The term also applies to field personnel who perform activities associated with update/leave and urban update/leave. |
| Enumeration |
The process of interviewing persons and recording the information on census forms. |
| Enumeration district |
Obsolete term. Now called an assignment area. |
| Estimated census edited file |
This file is applicable to a sampling census. It incorporates corrections from the Integrated Coverage Measurement (ICM) survey. The operation creating the file provides the transition from "collection" to "tabulation" geography (statistical and political) in the micro data files. Tabulation geography is added and the units are reordered into their appropriate block for further processing in sampled area sites. |
| Estimation Review System |
This system is used for a sampling census. It is a system that provides the statistical results of the various types and phases of the estimation process to the analysts. |
| Executive Information System |
See Enterprise Information System. |
| Executive steering committee |
The assistant to the associate director for the decennial census, associate director for the decennial census, principal associate director for programs, principal associate director/chief financial officer, associate director of field operations, and the deputy director |
| Facility questionnaire |
See Special Place Facility Questionnaire. |
| Feature |
Any part of the landscape, whether natural (such as, a stream or ridge) or artificial (such as, a road or power line). In a geographic context, features are any part of the landscape portrayed on a map, including nonvisible boundaries of legal entities, such as, city limits or county lines. See nonstreet features, nonvisible feature, and visible feature. |
| Federal Information Processing Standards code (FIPS) |
A standardized set of numeric or alphabetic codes issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities through all federal government agencies. The entities covered are: states, counties, metropolitan areas, congressional districts, foreign geographic entities, named populated and related location entities (such as, places and county subdivisions), and American Indian and American Native areas. |
| Field Division |
Census Bureau. Plans and directs the collection of national sample survey, census, and other data at the local level. Data are collected through a flexible field organization of regional offices in twelve major cities across the country. The offices employ part-time interviewers who gather data by direct contact with the public. During major censuses, the division administers temporary regional census centers, district offices, and other offices. |
| Field followup |
A data collection procedure involving personal visits by enumerators to residential addresses to perform any of the following operations: resolve inconsistent or missing data items on returned questionnaires identified during content edit and possible enumeration errors discovered in coverage edit; conduct vacant/delete check; obtain data for blank or missing questionnaires; and check on addresses for which no questionnaire has been checked in. |
| Field operations supervisor |
Supervises activities of crew leaders and enumerators |
| Film optical sensing device for input to computers |
A device which reads microfilmed questionnaires and transfers the data to magnetic tape for the Census Bureau's mainframe computers. This device was created by the Census Bureau for the 1960 census. |
| Fire number |
A number assigned to a structure to identify it for firefighters. It is not a house number and street number address but a special number assigned by the local fire department. |
| Followup |
A secondary census or survey operation, predominantly in data collection, carried out to successfully complete an initial operation. It is most often a telephone or personal visit interview to obtain missing data or clarify original responses. See field followup and nonresponse followup. |
| Free-Standing Housing Unit (FSHU) |
One of two kinds of housing units found at a special place. A FSHU is a living quarters that is physically separate from the group quarters at a special place. An example of a FSHU is a president's house at a college. |
| Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) |
Created in 1974. An act that requires federal agencies to provide access to and copies of existing agency records to the public. Access can be denied only if records are within specific exempted categories, such as, Title 13 data. |
| Frontloading |
Hiring and training approximately twice as many enumerators as are needed for decennial field operations to compensate for expected turnover |
| Gated community |
A community, composed of individual houses, duplexes, or apartment buildings, surrounded by a secured fence or other barrier allowing limited access through a secure gate |
| General Accounting Office (GAO) |
An investigative arm of the Congress that performs audits and evaluations of government programs and activities |
| General Services Agency (GSA) |
A central management agency that sets federal policy in such areas as federal procurement, real property management, and information resources management |
| Geocode |
A code that identifies a specific geographic entity. For example, geocodes needed to identify a census block for data collection are the state code, the county code, and the block number. |
| Geocoding |
The assignment of an address, structure, key geographic location, or business name to a location that is identified by one or more geographic codes |
| Geographic Base File/Dual Independent Map Encoding (GBF/DIME) |
The predecessor of TIGER® |
| Geographic entity |
A geographic unit of any type, legal or statistical, such as, a state, county, place, county subdivision, census tract, or census block |
| Geographic program participant database |
A Census Bureau control file that records information about participation by local governments in census programs designed to improve the content of TIGER® and expand the master address list |
| Geographic reference file |
A generic term for a file that contains geographic information such as, area names, geographic codes, and selected x, y coordinate values. These files are necessary for the Census Bureau to organize the address list for the field activities and for production of tabulation displays. |
| Geography Division |
Census Bureau. GEO defines decennial census geography; creates and maintains the Master Address File; spatially locates addresses using the TIGER® database; maintains and updates the TIGER®; and provides geographic support for other business, economic, and government surveys and censuses. |
| Government Printing Office (GPO) |
U.S. Government. The mission of the Government Printing Office is to inform the nation by producing, procuring, and disseminating printed and electronic publications of the Congress as well as the executive departments and establishments of the federal government. |
| Governmental unit |
A government is an organized entity which, in addition to having governmental character, has sufficient discretion in the management of its own affairs to distinguish it as separate from the administrative structure of any other governmental unit. To have governmental character, an entity must have existence as an organized entity and responsibility to the public. |
| Group Quarters (GQ) |
A place where people live or stay other than the usual house, apartment, or mobile home. Two general types of group quarters are recognized: institutional (for example, nursing homes, mental hospitals or wards, hospitals or wards for chronically ill patients, hospices, and prison wards) and noninstitutional (for example, college or university dormitories, military barracks, group homes, shelters, missions, and flophouses). Group quarters may have housing units on the premises for staff or guests. |
| Group quarters enumeration |
An operation designed to enumerate people living or staying in group quarters. Enumerators visit each special place with group quarters, list the names of the people living or staying there, and leave an Individual Census Report for each person to complete. Enumerators return at a later date to pick up the forms and, if necessary, conduct interviews to obtain any missing information or conduct interviews with nonrespondents. See group quarters. |
| Hard to enumerate |
A term used to describe an area whose environment or population may present difficulties for enumeration. |
| Hawaiian Homelands |
Areas created as a result of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 to provide agricultural, pastoral, and residential land for native Hawaiians. |
| Headquarters |
A term sometimes used to designate the Census Bureau facility, staff, and operations in Suitland, Maryland. |
| Heterogeneity |
Heterogeneity occurs when blocks of housing units assigned to sampling strata or groupings do not have equal chances of being included or missed by the census or survey. Heterogeneity creates difficulty for the small area estimation process because the correction factor is applied to all people with the specified characteristic in that sampling poststratum even though some of them do not actually have the coverage characteristics. |
| Highest elected official |
The elected or appointed person who is the chief executive official of a governmental unit and is most responsible for the governmental activities of the governmental unit, such as, the governor of a state, chair of a county commission, or mayor of an incorporated place. |
| Historic areas of Oklahoma |
The area encompassing the former American Indian reservations that had legally established boundaries during the period 1900 through 1907 but were dissolved during the 2- to 3-year period preceding the establishment of Oklahoma as a state in 1907. The 1980 census tabulated data for this entity, but it was replaced for the 1990 census by tribal jurisdiction statistical areas. |
| Homogeneity |
Homogeneity assumes that all people in a particular sampling stratum or poststratum have an equal chance of being included or missed by the census or survey. A lack of homogeneity in a particular sample block is not an error, but it does create difficulty for the small area estimation process. This happens because the correction factor is applied to all people with the specified characteristic in that poststratum even though some of them do not exhibit the same coverage characteristic. |
| Hotels, motels, or other facilities |
Hotels, motels, and other facilities for which vouchers are provided or that operate under contract to provide shelter to people without housing. These are service locations. See emergency shelters; regularly scheduled mobile food vans; service location; shelters for children who are runaways, neglected, or without housing; soup kitchens; and transitional shelters. |
| House number and street name address (HN/SN) |
An address assigned to a specific structure, consisting of a number and the street name on which the structure is located. The address may or may not be used for mail delivery. See address, basic street address, city-style address, and mailing address. |
| Household (HH) |
A person or group of persons who live in a housing unit. These equal the count of occupied housing units in a traditional census. |
| Householder |
The member of a household who lives at the housing unit and owns or rents the living quarters. If there is no such person present, any household member who is at least 15 years of age can answer the questionnaire. |
| Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division |
Census Bureau. In concert with others at the Bureau, the HHES division compiles, analyzes, and publishes data on the physical, social, and financial characteristics of the nation's housing and on the socioeconomic characteristics of the nation's population. |
| Housing Unit (HU) |
A house, an apartment, a mobile home or trailer, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied as a separate living quarters, or, if vacant, is intended for occupancy as a separate living quarters. See separate living quarters. |
| Hybrid mailing |
A national concept considered for Census 2000 but not implemented: a combination of targeted and blanket mailings for replacement questionnaires within a local census office. Certain multi-units were excluded. |
| Identification number |
See census identification number. |
| Imputation |
When information is missing or inconsistent, the Census Bureau uses imputation to assign values. Imputation relies on the tendency of households of the same size within a small geographic area to be similar in most characteristics. For example, the value of "rented" is likely to be imputed for a housing unit not reporting on owner/renter status in a neighborhood with multi-units or apartments where other respondents reported "rented" on the census questionnaire. There are two major types of imputation: 1) allocation, in which missing values for individual items are filled in on the basis of other reported information for the person or household (or from other persons or households with similar characteristics) and 2) substitution, in which all of the information for a person or household is created from other persons or households with similar characteristics. |
| Incorporated place |
A type of governmental unit incorporated under state law as a city, town (except the New England states, New York, and Wisconsin), borough (except in Alaska and New York), or village and having legally prescribed limits, powers, and functions. See consolidated city, governmental unit, independent city, legal entity, and place. |
| Independent city |
An incorporated place that is a primary division of a state and legally not part of any county. The Census Bureau treats an independent city as both a county equivalent and county subdivision for data tabulation purposes. See city, county equivalent, county subdivision, and incorporated place. |
| Individual Census Questionnaire |
A questionnaire that contains population questions for one person. The form is used at both soup kitchens and regularly scheduled mobile food vans. This form asks if the person has a usual residence but does not ask housing questions. It also asks about their use of services at shelters, soup kitchens, or mobile food vans. Enumerators will conduct personal interviews using this form. See service-based enumeration and targeted nonsheltered outdoor location. |
| Individual Census Report |
A questionnaire that is used during group quarters enumeration and at two service locations (shelters and targeted nonsheltered outdoor locations) that contains population questions for one person. There are both long and short form versions. In most group quarters, additional questions are asked of a sample (one in six) of the population. The forms ask if the person has a usual residence but does not ask housing questions. Enumerators will distribute this form to the clients to complete. At targeted nonsheltered outdoor locations enumerators will conduct personal interviews using this form. See group quarters enumeration and self-enumerating places. |
| Industry and occupation |
The current or most recent job activity reported on the census long form questionnaire. These responses require coding and classification processing. |
| Information Memoranda Series |
These memoranda document Census 2000 information other than that documented in the Decision Memoranda Series. These include program master plans. |
| Information Resource Management Office |
Census Bureau. Develops the Census Bureau's long-range information technology vision and strategy. |
| Information Systems Support and Review Office |
Census Bureau. Provides program management of information technology budgeting, procurements, and administrative support. |
| Information Technology (IT) |
Includes telecommunications and computer hardware and software. See Information Resource Management Office and Information Systems Support and Review Office. |
| Inspector General |
Department of Commerce. The IG conducts and supervises audits, inspections, and investigations of Commerce Department programs and operations. |
| Integrated Coverage Measurement |
This operation was proposed for Census 2000 but will not be implemented. The objective of such an operation is to measure how well the Census Bureau counted people and housing in a census. A large-scale sample survey is conducted independently of regular census operations. The sample consists of block clusters in urban and rural areas. The results are matched to census results and estimates of the undercount are created. It is a micro-level approach, that is, case-by-case matching.
There are three phases to such an operation. In the housing unit phase, an inventory of housing within sample blocks is conducted separately from the census. In the computer assisted person interview (CAPI) phase, an independent sample of nonrespondents is taken, and telephone and personal visit second interviews are conducted to create an independent roster. In the person matching phase, persons enumerated in the census are matched to persons enumerated in the CAPI phase, followup interviews for discrepancies are conducted, unresolved cases are imputed as a last resort, and statistical procedures are used to produce estimates of the people missed or duplicated in the census.
The final phase of such an operation is to use the Dual System Estimation to compare the census counts to the ICM counts and create estimation factors to adjust the census results.
Also called the Quality Check Survey. |
| Integrated Coverage Measurement 2000 |
The automated system for assignment, control, and tracking of all field ICM operations including both paper (paper assisted personal interview) and automated (computer assisted telephone interview). |
| Interactive voice recognition |
An automated telephone system that offers callers different menu choices covering a variety of predetermined topics |
| International Trade Administration (ITA) |
Department of Commerce. The ITA is responsible for nonagricultural United States trade issues and works with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in coordinating trade policy. |
| Internet Questionnaire Assistance |
An operation which allows respondents to use the Census Bureau's Internet site to: 1) ask questions and receive answers about the census form, job opportunities, or general questions about the purpose of the census, and 2) provide responses to the short form. |
| Island Areas |
Islands included in the U.S. Census of Population and Housing are: U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. Puerto Rico is sometimes called an island area. These were formerly called outlying areas. |
| Issue Resolution/Change Control Board |
Handles operational decisions having major budget and policy impacts. The Census Operational Managers group refers issues outside its scope to this board. |
| Invalid return detection |
A procedure for identifying invalid non-ID'd forms, that is, forms returned in Census 2000 as an attempt to introduce error into the population count. |
| Key from image |
An operation in which keyers enter data by referring to a scanned image of a questionnaire for which data could not be recognized by optical character recognition with sufficient confidence |
| Key from paper |
An operation in which keyers enter data directly from a hardcopy questionnaire which could not be read by optical character recognition |
| Kit |
A collection of materials gathered together to give to each enumerator, lister, or other field staff to accomplish a specific job within a particular operation. The materials are packaged together to make their distribution easier, consistent, and more efficient. |
| Large household |
A housing unit with more than six persons |
| Large household followup |
A census operation that follows up on households that indicated more than six persons in that housing unit on their census form. The questionnaire only allows for the reporting of information for six persons per household. This operation is included in the coverage edit. |
| Late mail return |
Mail received after the cut-off date for identifying nonresponding housing units for the nonresponse followup operation |
| Legal entity |
An entity whose origin, boundary, name, and description result from charters, laws, treaties, or other administrative or governmental action, such as, the United States, states, the Island Areas, counties, cities, townships, boroughs, towns, villages, American Indian Reservations, Alaska Native Villages, congressional districts, and school districts. The legal entities recognized for a decennial census are those in existence on January 1 of the decennial census year. |
| List/enumerate |
A method of data collection in sparsely populated (rural) and remote areas, such as, remote Alaska. The procedures are to list addresses or physical locations for housing units, enumerate the household, and update the census map as needed. The enumerators list each residential address or location description and conduct the enumeration in one visit using a short- or long-form according to the sampling pattern for the assignment area. |
| Lister |
A census employee who obtains addresses and related information and records the information on address listing pages and census maps. |
| Living quarters |
A dwelling where people live, stay, or could live. Living quarters are classified as housing units or group quarters. They are usually found in structures intended for residential use but also may be found in structures intended for nonresidential use as well as tents, vans, shelters for people without housing, dormitories, barracks, and so forth. |
| Local area network |
A group of computers linked within a network to exchange and share information within a building or among several buildings. See wide area network. |
| Local census office |
Temporary Census Bureau offices to be established for Census 2000 data collection purposes. Called "district office" (DO) in previous censuses. |
| Local Update of Census Addresses |
A Census 2000 program, established in response to requirements of Public Law 103-430, that provides an opportunity for local and tribal governments to review and update individual address information in the master address file and associated geographic information in the TIGER® database to improve the completeness and accuracy of both computer files. The governments must sign a confidentiality agreement to participate. Also called the address list review program. |
| Local Update of Census Addresses field verification |
An operation verifying the existence and the residential status of addresses given to the Census Bureau by local officials during the LUCA program |
| Location description |
A description of the physical location or characteristics of a living quarters that does not have a house number and street name address |
| Locator map |
A census map that helps enumerators find the location of and determine how to travel to their assignment areas. The map covers more area than the assignment area. |
| Long form |
The decennial census questionnaire containing 100 percent and sample questions. See short form. |
| Long form sampling |
The long form uses a variable rate sampling plan to determine which households will receive the long form. The Census Bureau samples for the long form using four rates based on the size of a government. Nationally, or overall, one in six households will receive a long form. This is a sample for content, that is, a sample determining which households receive the long form content. |
| Mail response rate |
The total number of checked-in questionnaires returned by mail divided by the number of questionnaires mailed by the U.S. Postal Service or delivered by census enumerators. This check-in rate differs from a true mail response rate because it reflects forms that have been processed and not necessarily all of those that have been received. |
| Mail return rate |
The total number of households returning a questionnaire by mail divided by the number of occupied</ |
