Quote:
Originally posted by DSTCHAOS
If anyone on this board has had experience with census data, or any other data for that matter, please stand up.
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Well... I do... I filled out my census data in 2000. So technically, I am accounted for ... literally.
And FYI, unlike most sociological methodological research, the census actually does attempt to account for everyone. In the constitution it says that every ten years the government is supposed to account for everybody, because that is how they decide how many representatives to give each state in congress. They literally send out thousands of people door to door to try to get every person in America to fill out a survey. A census person was posted at my dorm with a survey and a number 2 pencil.
Periodically the census updates their info, between the ten year periods, with information from samples of people. They track all kinds of stuff like income, race, occupation, and education. The info is used by the government for all kinds of stuff, like the GAO uses it to base estimates of the impact of various federal programs.