2000 CENSUS: Refinements to Full Count Review Program Could Improve Future Data Quality
Abstract
Demographic Full Count Review was one of a number of quality assurance programs the Bureau of the Census developed for the 2000 decennial headcount to help ensure the completeness and accuracy of census data. Analysts were to identify, investigate, and document suspected data discrepancies or "issues" in order to clear census data files and products for subsequent processing or public release. Bureau reviewers were to determine whether and how to correct the data by weighing quality improvements against time and budget constraints. According to bureau officials, because the bureau lacked sufficient staff to conduct Full Count Review on its own, it contracted out some of the analysts' work to members of the Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE), an organization composed of state demographers that, since its inception in 1973, has worked with the bureau to ensure accurate state and local population estimates. The bureau believed that FSCPE members' knowledge of the demographic characteristics of their respective states could help the bureau review data files and products, including politically sensitive apportionment and redistricting data files known as public law data.1
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA404280
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office