Decennial Censuses: Historical Data on Enumerator Productivity Are Limited
Abstract
This letter responds to your request for data on enumerator productivity levels from the 1940 through the 2000 Censuses. In your respective capacities as the Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Government Reform, and the Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on the Census, you asked us to develop this information to better clarify the relationship between the Bureau of the Census' field data collection workload, and the time and labor force needed to complete it. These factors-used to calculate productivity-are some of the largest drivers of census costs, and the Bureau developed its budget for the 2000 Census using a model that contained key assumptions about expected workload and enumerator productivity. 1 We reviewed historical data to obtain information for the 1940 through 1990 Censuses; and, for the 2000 Census, we examined preliminary data contained in the Bureau's Cost and Progress database, a management information system the Bureau uses to track the status of the census. We also interviewed officials from the Bureau's 2000 Decennial Management Division and history office to obtain information on (1) how the data were developed, (2) their limitations, and (3) the extent of their comparability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 05, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA385543
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office