ctpp-news August 2000

ctpp-news@mailman.chrispy.net

4 participants
5 discussions

Urgent: Proposal for reporting travel time and departure time in PUMS 2000.

by Nanda Srinivasan

In the July CTPP Status Report (http://www.mcs.com/~berwyned/census/newsltr/sr0700.html), we mentioned the Census Bureau proposal for PUMS 2000 to round travel time to work to five minute intervals, and round departure time to work to 15 minute intervals. Dr. Ashish Sen, Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Mary E. Peters, Chair, AASHTO Standing Committee on Planning sent a letter to the Census Bureau expressing our concerns. Since then, the Census Bureau assigned Phil Salopek to work with the Department of Transportation and AASHTO to address our concerns. The following are the suggestions of the CTPP Working Group for reporting Travel time and Departure time in PUMS 2000. We would like your comments on our proposal. Please write to Nanda Srinivasan at ctpp(a)fhwa.dot.gov (phone: 202-366-5021) by September 1, 2000. Thank you! Nanda Srinivasan Proposal for PUMS: To protect individual confidentiality, the Census Bureau is generally using two approaches to reduce the chance of disclosure. For variables that are considered to form a continuous distribution, top coding is being used. At the national level, the top category must contain at least: a) 0.5% of the total US population (about 1.4 million persons), or b) 3% of the subpopulation or universe of the variable. The smaller result of a) and b) may be used. For variables that are categorical in nature, the Census Bureau is requiring that there be at least 10,000 persons (nationwide) in any specified category or grouping of values. There is no restriction on how the categories are formed, as long as they each contain enough people. If a category that has been specified beforehand turns out to have too few cases in it, the category will be combined with another one. Travel time: Travel time is a continuous variable. We would like Travel time to be reported in individual minutes between 1 and 89 minutes, and 90 and over as a top code. Explanation: According to the 1990 census 1.7 million people took 90+ minutes to get to work (but only about 850,000 took 91+ minutes). For criterion b) we would use 3% of the number of workers not working at home (111,664,249), or 3.3 million people. Since the result of criterion a) is smaller, for 2000 PUMS we could expect to get individual minutes of travel time from 1 to 89 minutes, with the top category being 90+ minutes. Departure time: We believe that time leaving home to go to work (departure time) should be treated as a categorical variable. We recommend the following scheme: 1. Midnight to 3 a.m. - 30 minute intevals. 2. 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. - 10 minute intervals. 3. 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. - 5 minute intervals. 4. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. - 10 minute intervals. 5. 7 p.m. to midnight - 15 minute intervals. The attached adobe acrobat (.pdf) file provides the proposed specification of categories.

25 years, 10 months

Census 2000 News Alert

by ed christopher

From: Census2000 <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> Former Census Directors Support Proposal Giving Bureau Chief Final Say Over Statistical Adjustment Decision Plus: Census Bureau Issues Report Addressing Concern Over Rushed Household Visits Four former Census Bureau chiefs co-signed a letter of support for a proposed Commerce Department rule that would delegate to the Bureau director the decision over whether to release statistically corrected population numbers. The four directors, whose service spanned Republican and Democratic administrations in the years after the 1970 count, said the proposed delegation from the Commerce Secretary to the Bureau director "puts the decision with scientific professionals where we believe it belongs." The comments, submitted for the rule-making record, were signed by Vincent Barabba (1973-76 and 1979-81); John G. Keane (1984-89); Barbara Everitt Bryant (1989-93); and Martha Farnsworth Riche (1994-98). The agency's professional staff, the directors wrote, are "more capable than others of judging and recommending whether the corrected 2000 data more accurately reflects the U.S. population than does the enumerated count released earlier for apportionment purposes." By law, the Bureau must transmit detailed census data to the state legislatures by April 1, 2001, for use in the redistricting process. The agency's current head, Dr. Kenneth Prewitt, has said the Bureau will determine by the end of February 2001 if the statistically adjusted numbers are more accurate. Drs. Bryant and Riche also spearheaded a letter from more than 180 demographers, statisticians, business leaders, academics, and other census experts supporting adoption of the proposed rule. The letter, circulated with assistance from the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, notes that a committee of senior Census Bureau professionals would advise the director on whether the results of a quality check survey (the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.) survey) and related statistical estimation would improve the accuracy of the data compiled only through direct counting methods. The full text of the letter and a listing of signatories are posted on the web at www.lacounts2000.org. A dozen organizations representing religious, women's, labor, and civil rights interests submitted formal comments in support of the proposed rule. In a statement announcing the joint letter, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) Executive Director Wade Henderson said, "We strongly support the Secretary of Commerce's determination that [Census Bureau] experts ...are most qualified to decide whether to release statistically corrected population totals to the states." Joining the LCCR as signers on the comment letter were top officials from the National Council of La Raza, American Association of University Women, Arab American Institute, United Methodist Church, Organization of Chinese Americans, Housing Assistance Council, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, United Church of Christ, People for the American Way, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, and the American Federation of Government Employees. Former Secretary of Commerce William Daley announced the proposed rule in June; the 45-day comment period ended last week. All comments submitted as part of the rule-making process are posted on the Census Bureau's web site, at www.census.gov/dmd/www/Feascom.htm. Census Bureau issues report on 15 local offices cited by House chairman: The Census Bureau has completed its review of field work in 15 Local Census Offices (LCOs) and found "no cause to re-enumerate" households that census takers visited as part of the 'nonresponse follow-up' operation, Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt said in an August 3 letter to Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Census. Chairman Miller asked the Bureau to review field operations in the 15 offices last month, saying an analysis by his staff of agency data tracking the progress of follow-up visits to households that did not mail back their census forms revealed "disturbing characteristics" that suggested "a rush to finish at the expense of quality." Dr. Prewitt charged that the congressional staff analysis "seriously misrepresents the quality of the census effort" in the 15 cited offices and "calls into question the dedication, honesty, and commitment" of the employees in those areas. He said high case completion rates both early and late in the household visit phase, which ran from late April to late June, are "attributable to documented operational efforts by the Census Bureau and to exceptional promotion efforts by the local community." Rep. Miller had expressed concern that "improper or fraudulent procedures" may have led to "early peak" and "late surges" in the nonresponse follow-up work. The analysis by his staff also cited "high" rates of deleted addresses from the Bureau's Master Address File, as well as "high" rates of partial interviews and reliance on information from neighbors or other non-household sources to complete caseloads, as evidence of irregular procedures. Dr. Prewitt questioned the staff's conclusions and said the Bureau's tracking data "cannot be analyzed in isolation or without a comprehensive understanding of the local conditions." The director said the Bureau is working separately with the Commerce Department's Inspector General to investigate allegations of fraud or falsification of data in a handful of areas. He again disputed the congressman's description of the count as a "rushed census," noting that 'Quality Counts' operations "indicate ongoing, close attention to every procedure that can increase coverage and/or improve data quality." The Bureau's findings, contained in a report entitled, "Census Bureau Review of Local Census Offices Profiled by the Subcommittee," are posted on the agency's web site at www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2000/cb00cn53.html. Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be directed to Terri Ann Lowenthal at 202/484-2270 or, by e-mail at <terriann2k(a)aol.com>. For copies of previous News Alerts and other information, use our web site www.census2000.org . Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to the Census 2000 Initiative at <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.

25 years, 10 months

Metropolitan Planning Organization Coordinator

by Steve.Gramm＠state.sd.us

TRANSPORTATION SPECIALIST II - Pierre, SD Job #11-2200-08042000 (A separate application is needed for each Job #). South Dakota Department of Transportation, Planning and Engineering/Planning and Programs Salary: $15.21 per hour minimum, salary negotiable within N17 Range Position Purpose: This position is the liaison between the South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) of Rapid City, Sioux Falls, and Sioux City. This position: * advises DOT upper management of the MPO activities and studies that will affect DOT interests; * represents DOT at MPO technical advisory and executive policy committee meetings that include high-level elected and appointed officials from the state's largest cities and counties; * ensures compliance with state and federal statutes, rules and regulations, and policies; * coordinates special studies; * compiles and prepares studies, presentations, memoranda, letters, plans, and responses as required; * coordinates local and regional corridor studies; * coordinates street and highway improvements between the state and MPO; * approves MPO work activities; * provides technical assistance using computerized traffic forecasting models. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Knowledge of: * modes of transportation; * sources of state and federal highway revenue; * statistical methods and their applications; * principles and practices of planning; * traffic forecasting; * public administration; * revenue forecasting as it is related to public finance; * fiscal procedures; * grant procedures; * applicable federal and state regulations. Ability to: * plan and organize research activities and studies; * gather, analyze, and interpret data; * interpret applicable laws and regulations and apply them appropriately; * assess problems and determine corrective actions or alternatives; * use a computer and appropriate applications; * coordinate work activities with other agencies; * represent DOT interests with high-level local officials; * meet and work effectively with the public; * communicate sufficiently to moderate meetings and facilitate public involvement. Comments: Travel is required each month in various parts of the state, usually overnight. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: A questionnaire will be mailed to you after your application is received by the Bureau of Personnel. The questionnaire must be completed and returned to the Bureau of Personnel, 500 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501. Your application will not be considered without the questionnaire. Closing Date: Until Filled FOR AN APPLICATION PLEASE CONTACT: (Online application available at website) South Dakota Bureau of Personnel Central Office Capitol Building 500 East Capitol Avenue Pierre, SD 57501-5070 (605) 773-3148 (605) 773-4344 (fax) http://www.state.sd.us/bop/bop.htm

25 years, 10 months

Census 2000 Initiative News Alert

by ed christopher

From: Census2000 <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> House Chairman Says Rush To Finish Put Quality of Count at Risk, But Census Director Says Charges Are Rush to Judgment Plus: Update on Census Operations Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Census, called for a review of counting operations in 15 Local Census Office areas where he said "improper or fraudulent procedures may have been employed." At a July 25 press conference in Washington, DC, Chairman Miller said a staff analysis of Census Bureau data tracking the progress of follow-up visits to households that did not mail back their census forms revealed "disturbing characteristics" that suggested "a rush to finish at the expense of quality." The congressman also cited complaints he said his office received from local census managers and enumerators who were concerned about pressure to finish their 'nonresponse follow-up' (NRFU) workloads early. Rep. Miller said his staff identified seven census offices where there were "early surges" in completing follow-up visits to unresponsive households: Hialeah, FL; Florence, AL; Las Vegas; Rapid City, SD; and East Los Angeles, Commerce, and Santa Ana, CA. The Census Bureau previously announced its decision to re-enumerate the entire NRFU caseload in Hialeah, after an investigation showed a failure to follow census procedures. Rep. Miller also identified nine census offices where he said "late surges" in completing the follow-up caseloads, as well as high rates of vacancy, deleted addresses, single-person households, and cases completed with 'proxy' data from neighbors or landlords, might indicate "fraud or irregularity": Atlanta West; Chicago Near North and Far South; Marion County, IN; Newark, NJ; Queens (NY) Northwest; New York Northeast; Newcastle, DE; and Philadelphia North. The chairman asked the Census Bureau to review the count in the 15 offices, which he noted were responsible for many hard-to-count areas with large African American, Latino, Asian, and American Indian populations. He also asked the Commerce Department's Inspector General to audit work in three of those offices - Chicago Near North, Atlanta West, and Queens Northwest -- to ensure that "proper quality controls" were implemented. Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt vigorously disputed Rep. Miller's conclusion that census activities were rushed or that enumerators were pressured to cut corners to complete their follow-up caseloads. In a telephone briefing for reporters on July 25 and a previously scheduled Washington, DC press briefing on July 26, the director said he was "disappointed" the congressional subcommittee did not give the Census Bureau an opportunity to review its analysis before releasing the findings publicly. Dr. Prewitt subsequently told members of the Census Bureau's seven advisory committees at their joint meeting on July 28 that he had completed his review of operations at all 15 offices and found "no need for any further action." He called the report prepared by Rep. Miller's staff "seriously flawed." The director said he was troubled that the "reputations of some of our best local offices have been impugned" by the charges of fraudulent or shoddy work. "This has been a good census," Dr. Prewitt said. "We are not going to let a series of unfounded charges take that away from us." Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the highest-ranking Democrat on the census subcommittee, said in a July 25th written statement that she "take[s] [Rep. Miller's] allegations very seriously" and that the Census Bureau should "investigate and correct" any failure to follow proper counting procedures. However, the congresswoman also questioned Chairman Miller's assertions of fraudulent activities, saying she had reviewed the same Census Bureau operational reports and had found "no evidence of widespread fraud." She also criticized the chairman for presenting his concerns "to the press first and the Census Bureau second." "What we have instead is the equivalent of 'Statistical McCarthyism' - allegations without proof," Rep. Maloney concluded. The congresswoman's district includes one of the census offices Rep. Miller cited as cause for concern. Dr. Prewitt said early last week that there was "no systemic evidence that quality was compromised" in any local offices other than Hialeah, Florida. "The evidence does not support calling this a rushed census," the director said, noting that the census "is done in a fishbowl," under the constant scrutiny of congressional committees, an eight-member Census Monitoring Board, the U.S. General Accounting Office, and the Inspector General. Dr. Prewitt previously ordered a re-enumeration of about 60,000 households in Hialeah, Florida, after finding systemic procedural irregularities. (The Census Bureau reduced the number of cases requiring re-enumeration from 71,000 to 60,000 after eliminating households that mailed back their census forms late.) At the advisory committee meeting later in the week, Dr. Prewitt said he found "no reason to doubt the quality of work" at the offices cited by Rep. Miller. "In each case, the increased pace of field work by dedicated census takers - either at the beginning or at the end of our door-to-door phase - is consistent with the staff resources applied to the situation," the director concluded. Responding to Chairman Miller's specific charges, Dr. Prewitt said the higher-than-expected mail response rate of 66 percent reduced the follow-up workload substantially, so that visits to unresponsive households were finished according to a revised time frame for that level of work. The Census Bureau announced completion of the nonresponse follow-up phase on June 27; the original completion target date of July 7 was based on a 61 percent mail back rate. Some areas posted a high number of completed cases early in the follow-up process because recruitment far exceeded expectations, the director said. He pointed to Commerce, CA, where census managers and community leaders made special efforts to reach the large number of non-English speaking residents, and 900 enumerators were deployed in the first weeks of field operations, instead of the projected 266. In communities where the follow-up work lagged, Dr. Prewitt said, the Bureau brought in more experienced managers and enumerators from other areas, which accounted for the quicker completion of cases later in the NRFU process. Chairman Miller sent a follow-up letter to Dr. Prewitt on July 26, pointing out that hiring peaks did not correspond with periods of rapid completion of household interviews in many of the local offices in question. Dr. Prewitt said the congressman's analysis overlooked the fact that productive enumerators who were reassigned to problem areas stayed on the payroll of the Local Census Office to which they were originally assigned, resulting in incomplete workforce figures for offices that required outside help. The Census Bureau is redoing about 150,000 cases nationwide, including those in the Hialeah area, because of concerns about the quality of the data. Forty-two million households did not return questionnaires by mail, requiring census takers to collect the information in person. Re-enumeration also is planned for selected households in Marion County, IN, Rockville, MD, and two areas of Chicago, as well as isolated cases in other areas. ("Re-enumeration" means the Bureau will set aside the original enumerator-completed questionnaire and send another worker to collect all of the information again.) The Bureau said Hialeah Local Census Office managers ordered enumerators to use both 'blitz enumeration' and 'last resort' procedures early in the process, without informing regional officials of the proposed change. Dr. Prewitt noted that his agency did not find evidence of fraud in Hialeah, but said the Inspector General continued to investigate that possibility. Director Prewitt also said he "took Chairman Miller's concerns seriously" and would provide a report to the oversight subcommittee this week. He acknowledged that some 'curbstoning' (so named because a census taker might 'stand at the curb' and guess the number of residents in a building or house without ever entering) is inevitable in any census but said the practice is not widespread or systemic and that ongoing sample checks of each enumerator's work often exposes individual fraud. In an open letter to members of the Bureau's advisory committees, Rep. Maloney called the allegations of systematic fraud and mismanagement "unsubstantiated." She said Commerce Inspector General Johnnie Frazier and General Accounting Office auditors assured her in separate conversations last week that they had not uncovered any "systemic fraud" in their reviews of census operations. The congresswoman encouraged census employees who believe procedures are not being followed "to step forward and make those allegations in a way that allows the issue to be investigated" by the Census Bureau or its independent overseers. Census 2000 operations continue: Dr. Prewitt and other Census Bureau officials reported last week that 200,000 temporary workers were still conducting coverage improvement activities in the field. There are nine major operations still in progress, they said, as part of the "Quality Counts" phase of the census. The director said he still believes Census 2000 "is a good census" and that quality control procedures "will make it a better census." In early July, enumerators finished follow-up visits in rural and remote areas, including American Indian reservations, where the Bureau employed 'list/enumerate' and 'update/enumerate' procedures to count housing units with irregular or unknown addresses. The Bureau has completed two-thirds of the 2.3 million cases marked for 'coverage edit,' which involves telephone follow-up with households of six or more residents or whose questionnaires contained inconsistent information. In addition, census takers are revisiting 8.7 housing units initially identified as vacant or nonexistent, to confirm there are no occupants. Dr. Prewitt said there was no deadline for completing the visits, but that the first of three 'waves' of these 'coverage improvement' visits was done. The Bureau also is randomly checking three million households nationwide by telephone, to verify the accuracy of the information collected. Other quality-check operations include physical verification of about one million addresses listed on Be Counted forms or on questionnaires completed through a telephone interview; rechecking about 724,000 apparently occupied housing units for which enumerators could not determine the number of residents; confirming jurisdictional boundaries with local government officials; and various internal evaluations of operational progress. The Census Bureau has finished 92 percent of the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (A.C.E.) workload; the 314,000 household survey is designed to measure under-and overcounts in the census. "We will remain in the field until we've exhausted every procedure that will help make this a better census," Dr. Prewitt said, addressing concerns that the census was over or had been rushed. Quality check activities will continue through September, after which no new cases will be added to the information already collected. The Census Bureau then conducts internal checks of the address list and other key components of the count as it prepares for release of the state population totals by December 31, as required by law for congressional apportionment, the director said. News Alert update: Norman Mineta was sworn in on July 21 as Secretary of Commerce, one day after the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote. Secretary Mineta is the first Asian American to serve in a cabinet position. He addressed members of the census advisory committees at their July 28th meeting. Advisory committee name change: The Commerce Department has expanded the charter for its 2000 Census Advisory Committee to include planning for the 2010 decennial census and the American Community Survey, which the Census Bureau hopes will eliminate the need for the traditional long form in 2010 and beyond. The panel was renamed the "Decennial Census Advisory Committee" to reflect its new duties. The department also named the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse as a new member of the committee. Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be directed to Terri Ann Lowenthal at 202/484-2270 or, by e-mail at terriann2k(a)aol.com. For copies of previous News Alerts and other information, use our web site www.census2000.org <http://www.census2000.org>. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to the Census 2000 Initiative at Census2000(a)ccmc.org or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.

25 years, 10 months

Modeler needed

by Mark Byram

TRAVEL DEMAND MODEL PROJECTION ENGINEER (Transportation Engineer 1 - PCN 63301.0) The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is seeking highly motivated engineer to utilize travel demand modeling procedures to perform trip generation, distribution, mode split, & capacity restrained traffic assignments for construction & design project vs. traffic engineering improvement. Coordinates & tracks various statewide model activities. Reviews, analyzes & prepares certified traffic forecasts for construction & other project improvements, provides liaison, technical guidance and training to District & Central Office personnel, MPOs & other local & Federal agencies. Minimum Qualifications: Valid certificate as Engineer-In-Training issued or accepted as equivalent by Ohio Board of Registration for Professional Engineers & Surveyors; 12 mos. Exp. As Transportation Engineer Intern. Excellent Benefit Package: Health Insurance, Paid Dental & Vision Benefits, 10 Paid Holidays, 4 Personal Days, 2 weeks Sick Leave, 2 weeks Vacation (after 1st year), Tuition Reimbursement Salary Range: $36,650 - $51,085 For consideration, send resume by August 12, 2000 to: Ohio Department of Transportation, Attn: Ms. Williams, Personnel - 1980 W. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43223, Fax: 614-752-6588, EOE: www.dot.state.oh.us

25 years, 10 months

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ctpp-news August 2000