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Old 02-16-2011, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Chicago: Beverly, Woodlawn
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I'm confused: if we know how many people should have responded why do we need a count in the first place?
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Old 02-16-2011, 09:11 AM
 
Location: Chicago: Beverly, Woodlawn
1,966 posts, read 6,076,182 times
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And, if there is some anticipated response rate, do we know for sure that they didn't calibrate the final count accordingly (estimate the missing responses in some way to adjust the final figure)?
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Old 02-16-2011, 09:59 AM
 
11,975 posts, read 31,789,833 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajolotl View Post
And, if there is some anticipated response rate, do we know for sure that they didn't calibrate the final count accordingly (estimate the missing responses in some way to adjust the final figure)?
Because of an intense fight with the Republicans, the Census Bureau is not allowed to use estimates in the Census. This was a huge battle in the late 90s, since most of the undercounted areas are dominated by minorities (who also tend to vote Democrat).

They send out the forms to every mailing address. The response rate is based on how many forms get returned, not how many total residents there are. If a form doesn't get returned, they send a person to that address to knock on doors (or to note if the building was torn down or the address was wrong). If this doesn't work, they try again. At some point they just give up. They can't possibly do an in-depth investigation for every case of a missing Census form, and so the result is a large undercount in urban areas.
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Old 02-16-2011, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Chicago: Beverly, Woodlawn
1,966 posts, read 6,076,182 times
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Thanks, but ... I find this odd. The "count" is really a lower bound? I'm shocked that they wouldn't attempt provide some estimate of the error -- Chicago lost 200K +-10%. Otherwise, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. For example, based on this conversation all I can conclude is that I don't know how many people live in Chicago. that was true before the census. I feel like something is missing.
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Old 02-16-2011, 01:58 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,335,713 times
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If you do not want to participate in the practice of democracy you deserve to be undercounted and funded accordingly. I don't care if you are a hilljack in Kentucky or a brother in Detroit.
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Old 02-16-2011, 04:27 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,688 posts, read 10,105,849 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonythetuna View Post
If you do not want to participate in the practice of democracy you deserve to be undercounted and funded accordingly. I don't care if you are a hilljack in Kentucky or a brother in Detroit.
Regardless, its still a bit ridiculous that we have to conduct the census using such an inefficient, inaccurate, and costly manner (although the timing of hiring all those temp workers was nice this go round).
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Old 02-16-2011, 04:38 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,335,713 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdiddy View Post
Regardless, its still a bit ridiculous that we have to conduct the census using such an inefficient, inaccurate, and costly manner
I agree.
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Old 02-16-2011, 08:41 PM
 
Location: Chicago
1,953 posts, read 4,960,484 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post
Why did they miss so many people this time around? Poor questionaire response rates? Illegal immigrants trying to stay out of site? Incompetence?
If you think they missed people this time you also have to assume they 'missed' the same % of people last count. I think its hard for all of us to believe that we lost that many people, but you have to be a realist
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Old 02-16-2011, 10:06 PM
 
11,531 posts, read 10,289,340 times
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Brown: I hope census got right when they counted Hispanics - Chicago Sun-Times

"Instead, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that the city’s Hispanic population increased just 3.3 percent between 2000 and 2010. Really? A measly 3.3 percent. They sure fooled me."
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Old 02-16-2011, 10:10 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,335,713 times
Reputation: 688
Quote:
Originally Posted by Savoir Faire View Post
Brown: I hope census got right when they counted Hispanics - Chicago Sun-Times

"Instead, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that the city’s Hispanic population increased just 3.3 percent between 2000 and 2010. Really? A measly 3.3 percent. They sure fooled me."
Most hispanics in Chicago are illegal. Just look at their voter registration rate.

298,372 total hispanics registered.
491,518 total whites registered.
601,675 total blacks registered.

Even a hispanic member of the media admits this:

"Javier Salas, the morning host on WRTO-AM 1200, said some of the poorer showing in his community is due to the undocumented status of many Latinos"

http://www.suntimes.com/news/electio...-hispanic.html
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