2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

IIRC, there was some issues in 2000 when all people of Spanish speaking areas were lumped into one single group. I know my wife didn't like that. And people from Brazil were also lumped in with that group, too- and they are not of Spanish origin.

Well I have issues with only being listed as caucasian! I want to be able to select that I am caucasian of Scandinavian descent!

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Well I have issues with only being listed as caucasian! I want to be able to select that I am caucasian of Scandinavian descent!

While I do see the joke, do recall that a good portion of the population of central and south America are native to the land, and not from Spain/Portugal.

(and some of the population of some S. American coutries are also not from Spain, but other European countries....)

And IMHO, the whole African American label is dumb, too- are we saying that people who can trace their lineage to Niger have the same problems as people who can trace their lineage to Ethiopia? As Caucasians, we know that people who are from the Mediterranian are not the same as people from Scandinavia- we all have different issues our genes give us. The point of tracing that is to know of different health "issues" that need to be planned for, right?

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

The point of tracing that is to know of different health "issues" that need to be planned for, right?

Is that why they do it? I really didn't know. If that is the case, then you have a point, it doesn't make much sense. Here's a question: If you are a caucasian from South Africa, are you Caucasian or African-American?

 

[Proud2baLaker]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

So for some reason I received a 2nd census form in the mail yesterday. Already filled out one and sent it back.

 

[state of hockey]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Is that why they do it? I really didn't know. If that is the case, then you have a point, it doesn't make much sense. Here's a question: If you are a caucasian from South Africa, are you Caucasian or African-American?

Ha. Pretty sure you would put down white for that one. But funny nonetheless.

 

[blockski]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

So for some reason I received a 2nd census form in the mail yesterday. Already filled out one and sent it back.

They send out replacement questionnaires to census tracts with historically low response rates. They do this regardless of the status of the first form. If you already filled your first one out, you can just throw that other one away.

 

[MattS]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

They send out replacement questionnaires to census tracts with historically low response rates. They do this regardless of the status of the first form.

Is this still a money saver??

 

[Dirty]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Is this still a money saver??

I'm sure it isn't. They are purposely trying to lose money.

 

[blockski]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Is this still a money saver??

Yes. The per household cost of printing and mailing a questionnaire is less than 50 cents. The per household cost of going door to door and knocking is more like $60.

They want people to mail them back, but they can't turn around on-demand printing fast enough to get forms out to specific households (since all the forms are geo-coded with the address they were sent to in the barcode), so they have no choice but to send replacement questionnaires to everyone in that tract.

It's not perfect, but if it gets people to send them back if they otherwise wouldn't have, it will save a lot of money.

 

[blockski]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

For those that think the Census is unconstitutional, or asks too many questions, or that your participation isn't required by law - Factcheck.org has the smackdown:

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/03/census-nonsense/

With Census questionnaires hitting America’s mailboxes this week, we thought it would be timely to respond to questions that we’ve been getting about claims made in chain e-mails, on anti-government Web sites and particularly in an anti-Census editorial posted on the Internet by a Burbank, Calif.-based TV camera operator and video producer named Jerry Day.

Day’s video had received more than 1.6 million viewings on YouTube.com as of March 18, and it has received considerable attention on conservative and anti-government blogs and Web sites. Day bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Harry Reasoner of ABC News, which may give him an undeserved air of authority in some eyes. In fact, Day’s denunciation of the Census is full of misinformation and false claims.

Day says that the Census Bureau will be asking intrusive, personal questions of all Americans, suggests that these violate the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search, and claims that information given to Census is "presumably" subject to subpoena and could be used in court by prosecutors. He also claims that citizens are not required to cooperate with Census takers. He’s wrong on all counts.

More detail at the link above.

 

[Proud2baLaker]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

They send out replacement questionnaires to census tracts with historically low response rates. They do this regardless of the status of the first form. If you already filled your first one out, you can just throw that other one away.

Thanks. I guess thats not suprising given the area I live. Southern Illinois... not far from Missouri and Kentucky...

 

[alfablue]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Is that why they do it? I really didn't know. If that is the case, then you have a point, it doesn't make much sense. Here's a question: If you are a caucasian from South Africa, are you Caucasian or African-American?

I can't think of any other reason to need to know someone's race. Well, it's a good excuse. I know les talks about using Census data to help project hospital and medical needs of a community.

One funny think about the "African American" label- I remember seeing one of those shows about kids who did the school at sea, and they got to do a video interview of Nelson Mandella- and one of them asked about him being an African American.... His reply was quite respectful, but also very direct...

 

[MattS]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

I finally got around to completing my census form and two things I don't like about it. (yeah I'm anti-government in a lot of ways)

First, as mentioned, the whole race thing. Stupid. I can't fathom why the Government really needs to know it.

Second, the relationship question. There is no place for married gay couples unless I guess they consider themselves to somehow be husband and wife.

 

[blockski]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

I finally got around to completing my census form and two things I don't like about it. (yeah I'm anti-government in a lot of ways)

First, as mentioned, the whole race thing. Stupid. I can't fathom why the Government really needs to know it.

Second, the relationship question. There is no place for married gay couples unless I guess they consider themselves to somehow be husband and wife.

Yes, there is a place for gay couples. There always has been. Nothing on the questionnaire changed.

For "person 2" on the form, they ask "what is your relation to person 1?"

You can select the option "Husband or Wife." Perhaps "Spouse" would be more clear, but if Person 1 is a man, as is Person 2, and they're married, they just check off the "Husband or Wife" box as they are married.

This is the first census where the Census Bureau will release statistics on gay and lesbian marriages, based on how people answer that question and their relative genders.

 

[MattS]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Yes, there is a place for gay couples. There always has been. Nothing on the questionnaire changed.

For "person 2" on the form, they ask "what is your relation to person 1?"

You can select the option "Husband or Wife." Perhaps "Spouse" would be more clear, but if Person 1 is a man, as is Person 2, and they're married, they just check off the "Husband or Wife" box as they are married.

This is the first census where the Census Bureau will release statistics on gay and lesbian marriages, based on how people answer that question and their relative genders.

Do you really read people's posts before you automatically defend the Census? Which part of this didn't you get?

Second, the relationship question. There is no place for married gay couples unless I guess they consider themselves to somehow be husband and wife.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Do you really read people's posts before you automatically defend the Census? Which part of this didn't you get?

His point was that the way it was worded you could select to be husband and husband or wife and wife.

 

[MattS]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

His point was that the way it was worded you could select to be husband and husband or wife and wife.

Really? Gosh thanks for both of you for clearing that up. I would never have figured that out.


I think in my own way I am bright enough to figure out what they meant by the question. I didn't need it explained to me how the Census Bureau is going to gather the data. I thought it was obvious that I was questioning the wording of the answers and showing how it was discriminatory. Not that I couldn't figure out which box to check.

 

[blockski]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Do you really read people's posts before you automatically defend the Census? Which part of this didn't you get?

I read your post. I also read the form. The form asks about your relationship to person #1, and the option for married couples is "husband or wife" - with the 'or' obviously dependent on the gender of person #1.

 

[MattS]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

I read your post. I also read the form. The form asks about your relationship to person #1, and the option for married couples is "husband or wife" - with the 'or' obviously dependent on the gender of person #1.

You are correct. I thought it said husband and wife. I guess my anti-gov't sentiment got the best of me. I humbly apologize to you.

 

[Priceless]

Re: 2010 Census - Fill it out, send it back

Fill out the census completely and truthfully. It'll make the job much easier for the Death Panels.