National Academies: Census survey data should be more user-friendly
The bureau should be paying more attention to the needs and opinions of the people and organizations that use its data, according to a recent report.
Census Bureau proposes dropping some marriage and divorce questions
The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed dropping a series of questions about marriage and divorce from its largest household survey of Americans, touching off a debate about the usefulness of such data.
For first time, census data on married couples includes same-sex spouses
Census Bureau officials and other experts do not expect counting same-sex spouses along with all other married couples to make a big impact on overall statistics for married couples. But if the number of same-sex married couples continues to rise, that could change.
Census says it will count same-sex marriages, but with caveats
The new approach reflects the bureau's evolving policy on reporting household relationships, as it tries to keep pace with social change.
Census struggles to reach an accurate number on gay marriages
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Washington, D.C., and 17 states (and Arkansas will join them, if a lower-court judge’s ruling last week is upheld). Now the federal government’s task is to produce an accurate count of same-sex married couples.
Millions of Americans changed their racial or ethnic identity from one census to the next
Americans of mixed race, American Indians, Pacific Islanders and Hispanics were among those most likely to check different boxes.
Census Bureau Considers Whether to Delete Some Questions
This links to a FactTank posting about the Census Bureau's review of questions on the American Community Survey. The agency may drop questions if it determines they do not yield useful, quality data that cannot be found elsewhere.
Census may change some questions after pushback from public
The U.S. Census Bureau is considering whether to drop some questions that it has used for decades and have been the source of complaints from the public who see them as intrusive or overly burdensome.
‘Mexican,’ ‘Hispanic,’ ‘Latin American’ top list of race write-ins on the 2010 census
Latinos are not the only group of Americans who utilize the “some other race” category on the census form—but they are the most likely to do so. In 2010, 6.2% of Americans selected “some other race,” up from 5.5% in 2000. Among all those who answered the race question this way in 2010, 96.8% were Hispanic.
Census Bureau explores new Middle East/North Africa ethnic category
Organizations representing people of Middle Eastern and North African descent are asking the Census Bureau to add a new ethnic category for them on forms, and it is one of the changes the bureau is exploring.
