Talk:American Community Survey

Costs of Survey

Does anyone know the annual cost of ACS (or other surveys)?

((Survey costs seem to be a much under-reported subject.)) Johnbibby (talk) 10:30, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

In 2005-6, evidently $146-170 million for one year.[1] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.17.157.236 (talk) 16:49, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism

Was this page vandalised? The introduction seems to have been written by somebody incredibly biased on the subject -- McMouse —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.239.217.81 (talk) 16:11, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you serious? Which way do you believe the introduction to be biased, pro or con? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.201.30.235 (talk) 22:15, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Look at the date of his comment and the date of yours. Here is the revision he was referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=American_Community_Survey&oldid=255861370 216.183.249.194 (talk) 14:34, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

Issues

Perhaps there should be a section about the issues with ACS data, more links to comparability between the Decennial Census and ACS. I will throw out there issues of Population count in College communities. The Census conducts a Population count on one specific date, as the ACS takes a population count over the whole year. When college students go home, the College population can be under-represented by the ACS. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.232.45.120 (talk) 19:35, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

This would be good, especially for issues such as "inability to opt out" and "is not anonymous" - unlike the normal census. -98.154.249.46 (talk) 10:35, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism

It's there, but it's subtle. For instance, the second paragraph under "Implementation" folds criticism into the section, breaking the encyclopedic format in the process: "...if you don't respond we follow-up with phone calls and/or visits. However, Section 221 of Title 13 U.S.C., makes it a misdemeanor to refuse or willfully neglect to complete the questionnaire or answer questions posed by census takers and imposes a fine of not more than $100. This fine is changed by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 from $100 to not more than $5,000. To date, no person has ever been charged with a crime for refusing to answer the ACS survey, which several U.S. Representatives have challenged..."

Would an NPOV tablet be appropriate? I lean no, but I encourage the authors of those views to at least transplant that sort of critical review, as factual as it may be, into the "Opposition" section. Thanks! J1.grammar natz (talk) 14:00, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

New section and citations

I'm a GIS analyst and frequent user of ACS data who just discovered how incomplete this page is. I added a new section on the unusual (compared to the decennial census) data release schedule. RIP 3-year estimates. I also added a number of citations and consolidated the legal info into the opposition section. I'd be happy to add more technical information but I doubt that would meet notability standards. Dmahr (talk) 19:30, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

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Incorrect Logo in infobox, and incorrect info

This logo is not in use and should be removed. Likewise, the "inauguration" date is wrong; the ACS went full sample size in 2005. True, it is an extension of the old census long form (1940), but as written this is misleading. There are a number of other factual errors in the article I'm intending to clean up; please see my user info. --Shel5136 (talk) 15:12, 19 May 2017 (UTC)Shel5136 (talk) 15:28, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Implementation section: updated 2012 response rate reference to current approximate rate, updated cite.Shel5136 (talk) 15:28, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Data Avaiability section edited

Removed discontinued data tool, added new data tools and new date product. Edited for clarity. Shel5136 (talk) 18:34, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

History

Proposed edits to history section to add historical context and citations. Shel5136 (talk) 19:06, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

• Adds pre-1940 historical citations: James Madison’s vision on the scope for the census • Adds link to historical grid of questions over the decades • Explains why the Census Bureau created the long form in 1940. • Adds citations and explains how and why Congress first began exploring conducting a mid-decade census, starting in 1960. • Adds citation and explains how Congress authorized a mid-decade census in 1976. • Adds citations and explains research and development prior to ACS implementation in 2005.

Proposed edit as follows:

The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section II) requires an enumeration of the population every ten years and “in such Manner as they [Congress] shall by Law direct.” James Madison first proposed including questions in the census to “enable them to adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community.” Such knowledge collected with each census, he said, “would give them an opportunity of marking the progress of the society.

The number and type of questions included in the census over the decades reflected current American societal trends and the growing nation’s expanded data needs.

By 1940, modernized statistical methods enabled the Census Bureau to start asking a sample of the population a subset of additional detailed questions without unduly increasing cost or respondent burden. In subsequent decades, questions that had previously been asked of all respondents, as well as new questions, moved to the subsample questionnaire form. As the subsample questionnaire grew to be longer than the questionnaire that went to most households, it became known as the “long form.”

After the 1960 Census, the congressional oversight committee for the census held hearings on proposed legislation to enact a mid-decade census that would address the growing need for more timely data. Additional hearings were held in 1965 and after the 1970 Census.

In 1976, Congress authorized a new, mid-decade census. However, it was never funded and thus never implemented.

In 1991, the congressional oversight subcommittee for the census tasked the National Academy of Sciences with examining the goals, methods, and potential alternative methods of conducting the census.

In addition to the rising cost of census operations, the subcommittee was concerned about the significantly lower response rates in the 1990 census compared to the 1980 census. Many respondents had complained that the long form was burdensome and intrusive. Its unpopularity was a factor in the declining response rate to the decennial census, jeopardizing overall response rates and thus the quality of the census count.

In addition, members of Congress were concerned that the once-a-decade long form no longer met the growing data needs of the country. Subcommittee chairman Rep. Thomas Sawyer (D-OH) remarked that “it is not enough just that the data be precise. In a period of rapid change, if the numbers aren't timely, they are not accurate.”

Members representing rural districts also expressed concern that rural areas were at a data disadvantage. This was expressed in a July 2000 hearing on the American Community Survey by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO). She argued that “because accurate and timely data is seldom available for rural communities and smaller rural jurisdictions, and because these entities have limited budgets, and are often led by part-time decision makers, timely, empirically-based assessments of policy alternatives are seldom available.”

In 1994, the Census Bureau began formal research and testing to change the long form from a once-a-decade subsample to an ongoing rolling sample survey. Testing began in 1995, and the ACS program produced test data in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The survey was implemented nationwide in 2005. The following year, the Census Bureau released estimates for all areas with populations of 65,000 or more using the data collected from January to December 2005. In 2010, the ACS produced its first set of multiyear estimates covering geographic entities of all population sizes, using information collected from January 2005 through December 2009.

Shel5136 (talk) 19:06, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

References

Replies

My opinions:

• The sections above on the pre-history of the ACS should be kept concise, more so than in the text above; details about the decennial Census are not all relevant here. Hopefully there can be a footnote linking to them.
• Avoid direct external links from the content of the page, as in the hyperlink from "number and type of questions". It is an editorial guideline in these Wikipedia articles not to link to outside sites from the main content. Maybe that's to avoid any broken links in the main core text. Instead, draw inferences from the outside source and footnote it here.
• Go ahead and integrate parts of this, ideally in sections over time so other readers see them evolving not all changed at once. Or anyway that's my style.
• Good to see lots of footnotes. I'll remove the warning banner on the article about not-enough-sources. There are already enough and you are adding more here.

-- econterms (talk) 20:02, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

And a question: does the new "rolling" design mean ACS data are collected every week or every month, not in one spate annually? Let's clarify that along with the word "rolling". I couldn't find anywhere else in the article saying when the data are collected. -- econterms (talk) 20:12, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks - added those changesShel5136 (talk) 16:57, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

Support and opposition sections

Added citations to include judicial rulings, federal data uses, corrected potential fine amount, removed biased, incorrect statement that the survey requires more information and at a higher frequency that constitutionally allowed, added letter from Census Project to House Oversight Committee. Shel5136 (talk) 16:57, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

The "long form" and the ACS are being improperly conflated here. The long form was part of the constitutionally authorized decennial census. The ACS is conducted annually, and whether or not an annual survey is constitutionally allowed is a separate issue from whether or not the questions can be included in the decennial census. The courts have indeed ruled that the questions are allowed, but nevertheless congress removed them and created an annual survey in the the form of the ACS to replace the long form. There haven't been any court cases that I can find that have ruled on the constitutionality of an annual survey.

164.90.16.101 (talk) 20:12, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Copy Edits and Additional Citations

Added additional citations for business support. Made some copy edits for clarity(i.e., deleted redundant paragraph) and precision (i.e., the decennial census is not a survey). Fixed punctuation. Added 2 sentences re: sample selection ("The Census Bureau selects a random sample of addresses to be included in the ACS. Each address has about a 1-in-480 chance of being selected in a given month, and no address should be selected more than once every five years.") Shel5136 (talk) 20:54, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

Proposed Edits and Additional Citations

  Edits

I would like to add some information in the "Support" and "Opposition" sections using articles and journals relating to the coverage and uncertainty of the survey's data. I would also like to add a section or elaborate on the "Data Availability" section in regards to estimates and the possible errors they can cause. Using information from the American Community Survey can not always be reliable and I would like to expand on some of those reasonings.

Bibliography

Glenn, Ezra Haber, Estimates with Errors and Errors with Estimates: Using the R 'ACS' Package for Analysis of American Community Survey Data (May 12, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2590391 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2590391

Kinney, Satkartar K. and Karr, Alan, Public-Use vs. Restricted-Use: An Analysis Using the American Community Survey (February 1, 2017). US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP-17-12. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2909935 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2909935

Luque, Adela, Renuka Bhaskar, Sonya Rastogi, and James Noon “Coverage And Agreement Of Administrative Records And 2010 American Community Survey Demographic Data.” OpenLuque, Adela et al. “Coverage and Agreement of Administrative Records and 2010 American Community Survey Demographic Data”. SocArXiv, 11 Jan. 2017. Web.

Seth E. Spielman & Alex Singleton (2015) Studying Neighborhoods Using Uncertain Data from the American Community Survey: A Contextual Approach, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105:5, 1003-1025, DOI: 10.1080/00045608.2015.1052335

Yvettetiff (talk) 03:40, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Yvettetiff. Peer reviewers: Gonzalm6.

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Peer Review Maria Gonzalez

I was looking at the controversy section, and I think it would be a good idea if you added the current question that may be added about immigration status. I would also add things we've talked about in class such as pros and cons. I liked the history part of the article though. I think it gets to the point, and even though its a bit lengthy I think it does the history justice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gonzalm6 (talk • contribs) 04:31, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

Note that the American Community Survey already asks about the citizenship question. The administration's proposal is to add it to the once-a-decade (decennial) census.Shel5136 (talk) 15:09, 5 September 2018 (UTC)