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This comes up each census by the states that feel they were under-counted, it is figured that the census is off by about 2% in recent years, which in a city of 1 million people would work out to 20,000. That is not a big enough number to try and revamp the whole system. Yes, think of ways to make it better and cheaper but to think the system needs to be completely changed is not needed.
And I just wonder what kind of results you think a new system would come up with. The current one is at 98% accurate so to make it worthwhile to change to a new system it would have to cost no more than the current system and be pretty damn close to 100% accurate. I don't think that is going to get done when counting 300,000,000 people
I was counted in San Antonio so that accounts for Houston's shortfall The metro was right on the money though.
I think if anything many people got counted twice.
neighbors info are not often reliable and they may include a boyfriend who lives with his mama and visits his girlfriend often so the neighbor sees him there and thinks he lives there.
The census is wrong. A lot of people did not participate and there should have an been a category for MULATTO. I am mulatto, black, white and native indian.
The census is wrong. A lot of people did not participate and there should have an been a category for MULATTO. I am mulatto, black, white and native indian.
Um...you can put as many races as you want. BTW- Look up the history behind the word Mulatto. Very interesting.
The census is wrong. A lot of people did not participate and there should have an been a category for MULATTO. I am mulatto, black, white and native indian.
If you don't mail it back they send someone out, numerous times, if after those attempts they still get no one home they go to a neighbor and attempt to get information on the people living there. If after all that there is still no count a crew leader or assistant crew leader will go out to ascertain from any notes (taken on previous visits in addition to theirs) whether the place is occupied, such as were the garbage cans out any days, cars in the driveway one day but not the other. If they take an educated guess that someone is living there but can not get a count I believe they count it as 1 person.
It is not a perfect system but there is a very strong effort to get a good count.
The effort isn't strong enough, however. I was a census taker last year, and we were not allowed to examine mailboxes to see whether there was any mail. I also started looking up address and property owners' names on the property tax website (on my own personal time, not even charging it to my hours worked) and then looking for those names in the phone directory to call them -- but my supervisor told me not to do this either. What the heck!!! Also, at many homes I would hear music and conversation inside, and several cars in the driveway, but no one ever answered the door after repeated visits --- not even when I held up my briefcase marked "Census" in very large lettering. And there was nothing I could do about it. I continually felt frustrated because the system put too many impediments in my way to collecting the data I thought I was supposed to get.
Last edited by slowlane2; 02-25-2011 at 08:48 PM..
I was counted in San Antonio so that accounts for Houston's shortfall The metro was right on the money though.
I think if anything many people got counted twice.
neighbors info are not often reliable and they may include a boyfriend who lives with his mama and visits his girlfriend often so the neighbor sees him there and thinks he lives there.
I think I was counted for Waco, but probably both Waco and Houston. That's what happens when the government hires non-English speaking census workers.
i believe that this is probably the most inefficient and biggest waste of time and money of the decade. memphis reportedly had a 57% participation rate in the inner city, and that was after several begs and pleas from the mayor and other civic or judicial personnel. the suburbs were higher, of course. the government has already reported that the hispanic population has risen over 30,000+, thus far. no word on the undercounted asian population in 2000. i don't have a great deal of faith in the system. memphis and shelby county has been all over the board. through the first 7 years, numbers for loss were being said to have been as high as 47,000 migration out. suddenly, shelby county had gained a supposed 2.5%, and that was before the state reported it had underestimated its count, which initially was 10.7%, but changed it to reflect an 11.4% gain.
for sure, we know that big shelby is still the largest county in the state, w/ an unofficial estimate of 923,000+. memphis is unofficially at 684,000+, and it remains the largest city in the state. the urbanized area is approximately 1,187,000. i believe, according to my statistical formula and my use of two systems, places shelby county at 964,000+, and memphis proper at 702,000+ (depending on the dispute over lakeland). shelby county contains 15.7% of the total population of tn. the metro is estimated to have a solid estimated growth of 8.7%, but possibly the anomaly of katrina will raise the number by 1 to 1 and a quarter %. with the growth in arlington, the special census in bartlett and collierville, and the growth of millington, and northeastern shelby, i think the metro growth will be somewhere around 1,400,000 more or less. there is definitely a frenzy to get these downtown and midtown housing units completed, and you can really see the growth and growth trends, almost weekly. both recognized out of state segments of the memphis metro are all recognized gainers, particularly desoto, which was the highest growth county in ms, and accounted for a total of 2.4% of the total 4.4% statewide growth. marshall has now begun its pretty significant growth spurt, due mainly because of the interstate, piperton, rossville and intermodal fayette-shelby development, housing for 12,000 being built at this time in both tn and ms. crittenden is having a pretty good central growth, particularly in marion, but also in west memphis. the numbers haven't come out as of yet, but they say it is going to probably be around 5.5% for that area. depending on these last two big company relocation announcements and their startup dates, i believe that is timed for the major airports of the world conference and the mpo outline. all in all, however, i believe the census will be a big let down for many communities. much of it has to do w/ the mood against the government, and much about immigration, invasion of privacy, and laziness. speaking w/ one researcher, he told me he liked my cross-section lay out---641,252 registered voters in shelby, 187,109 students school age, live births/ year, car registration, households, not housing starts, etc., unregistered voters, etc. chicago is really upset over the loss of 200,000+ migrants, most of which relocated to memphis and atlanta. talked to several city officials, who stated they were shocked, but they looked for it to continue. i think congress is going to have to come up w/ a better system.
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The metro was right on the money though.
