RE: [CTPP] Long form blues

recieved the long form at my house and it is a bugger to fill out. Will probably take 3 or 4 days to complete. Real difficult stuff.

I received the long form in 1990 and this year. The 2000 long form is much more detailed and much longer than the 1990 form. I can understand why people may refuse to complete it. This year's from goes way beyond journey-to-work data and asks for information, such as annual utility costs, that many people do not track. It will take more than a couple of hours research for me to provide accurate answers. The Census Bureau must have forgotten that the average American head of household is not a bureaucrat.

there is a report on the subject. As I recall the decline in response rates was slight and not the basis for concern about non-response from minorities.

It is strange that CTPP people would be complaining about the long form. That whole program is dependent on it. All census data is confidential for 72 years. Then it is released for historical research. In WWII the military asked the Census Bureau for the location of Japanese. They were denied access. I have participated in LUCA (Local Update Census Addresses). I have had to sign numerous confidentiality agreements in order to receive the data files. These files contain nothing but addresses, no names or any other data. Yet it took an act of congress to allow the Bureau to make these lists available to local governments for review. I am expected to destroy all files and maps when the review is finished. The long form may be a pain, but it provides much valuable information. This may be the last census with a long form. If so, it is the end of detailed data for small geography.

Our local weekly newspaper - with big circulation - is pushing the invasion of privacy button with respect to filling out the long form. Particularly on the income questions. I received the long form and have to admit that they have a point. I'll bet that 2000 returns will hit an all time low response rate.

My understanding was that in 1990 the long-form response rate was not that different from the short-form rate. I've had an earfull too. I'm sure some of response results from an increased sensativity to privacy issues over the past decade. My only response has been to gently encourage people to fill out what they can.