********** C E N S U S 2 0 0 0 B U L L E T I N ********** Vol. 2 - No. 42 Sept. 10, 1998 Acting Census Bureau Director James F. Holmes testified Wednesday (Sept. 9) before the U.S. House of Representatives' Census Subcommittee about the status of planning for a census in the year 2000 that does not use sampling for purposes of apportionment. In his prepared text, Holmes said the Census Bureau was abiding by the agreement reached in the fall of 1997 to pursue a "dual track" in planning for Census 2000. "While I continue to believe that a census with sampling will be more accurate and cost less," Holmes said, "we are on track to conduct a census without sampling in the event that a decision to do so is made by next March." Today and Friday, this bulletin will carry excerpts from Holmes' remarks. Today's excerpts focus on Census Bureau activities related to a census without sampling: ".... Let me now address some activities related to planning specific to a nonsampling census: "First, we are conducting the Dress Rehearsal census in our South Carolina site without the use of sampling and estimation procedures and including enhancements to nonsampling procedures. These enhancements included increased advertising and partnership activities, increased quality assurance, increased marketing and promotion activities, as well as 100-percent follow-up of nonresponding housing units and of all addresses for which the U.S. Postal Service could not deliver a questionnaire because the housing units were believed to be vacant. We have completed all field work through nonresponse follow-up in the South Carolina site. "Second, in order to comply with the agreement to prepare for a census that does not use sampling, it will be necessary to open in early FY1999 130 temporary local census offices to manage and control the activities necessary to collect data from all households that do not mail back a questionnaire in 2000. It is necessary to open these offices a year earlier than planned in order to prepare for the significantly increased work load associated with a census that does not use sampling. These lease negotiations for these 130 offices are nearly all completed and we will award the contract for equipment for these offices in the near future. "Third, we have made substantial progress toward developing a plan specifically addressing components of a census without sampling. "--We submitted to the Congress in April a 'Status Report on Planning for a Decennial Census in Year 2000 Without the Use of Scientific Sampling.' "--We have reorganized our decennial management structure to accommodate dual track planning successfully and we have hired staff to accomplish this planning. "--We have formed staff into some 20 chartered groups to address a wide range of issues concerning programs and operations that might be components of a census without sampling. These groups are exploring such broad issues as the use of administrative records, questionnaire development and delivery strategy, coverage improvement programs, ways to improve the nonresponse follow-up operation, and the marketing and partnership programs. These groups are preparing operational analyses of the components they are examining, which will be completed from mid-September to mid-October; these analyses will describe how an operation should be conducted if it were part of the plan for conducting a census without sampling. I will discuss these groups in more detail later. "--After integrating the groups' analyses, we plan to complete development this November of a plan to conduct a census without sampling, an associated master activities schedule, and interim cost estimates for the potential components of a plan. In February 1999, we will have a detailed plan." For further information about this bulletin, contact J. Paul Wyatt of the Public Information Office on 301-457-3052 (fax: 301-457-3670; e-mail: pio(a)census.gov).