Why do we need the census?

[billvon 3,087]

>It might have been a scam.

There have been a few of them (which is one reason for the "notice, the census is coming, and here's what it will look like" letters.) There was even a fundraising request from a major political party disguised as a census form - so be careful what you fill out!

[masterrig 1]

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It might have been a scam. Fishing for SS and bank account numbers.

They didn't ask... and I didn't tell. The 'hard time' I gave that woman, she was probably glad to be done with me.
Like I said, I got a big form in the mail and throughout it, were warnings if, I didn't fill it out and return it. The first thing I asked the woman was, what the penalty was for not giving the information... she just stuttered and stammered. That's when I proceded to refuse to answer certain questions and pointing-out the redundancy of their questions. I haven't heard any more from whoever.


Chuck

[redlegphi 0]

They use the long form, ACS version of the census to determine statistical data used to determine funding levels for federal programs in your area. So the main "penalty" is your area will get less funding for certain federal programs. Not everybody gets the long form. I think it's like 1 in 6 households or something like that.

[masterrig 1]

They certainly need to re-work the questions and the way they handle it. The way it's written just screams 'scam'. Also, I've always understood that the '1 - six' was sent-out at the same time as the regular census.
Also, I recall hearing on the news and reading where there were Senators and Congressmen who were not going to fill-out that particular 'census', due to the intrusive questions. One Congress was quite vocal in regard to her feelings about that census form.


Chuck

[Shotgun 1]

Here is some info about the American Community Survey that redlegphi mentioned:
https://ask.census.gov/cgi-bin/askcensus.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=781&p_created=1103807925&p_sid=YH6MP8Zj&p_lva=&p_li=&p_redirect=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xMjg2LDEyODYmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x

And here is a copy of the form:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/ACS-1(info)(2010)%20Stateside%20English_web.pdf

It does ask a lot of questions, and I had never heard of it. Is that what you received?

[masterrig 1]

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Here is some info about the American Community Survey that redlegphi mentioned:
https://ask.census.gov/cgi-bin/askcensus.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=781&p_created=1103807925&p_sid=YH6MP8Zj&p_lva=&p_li=&p_redirect=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0xMjg2LDEyODYmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x

And here is a copy of the form:
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/ACS-1(info)(2010)%20Stateside%20English_web.pdf

It does ask a lot of questions, and I had never heard of it. Is that what you received?

Yes, that's it! Did you notice the questions? They ask if you are married then later, ask if you are divorced... things like that. my wife and I just didn't feel comfortable about it. Especially about income and part-time work.


Chuck

[Shotgun 1]

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Yes, that's it! Did you notice the questions? They ask if you are married then later, ask if you are divorced... things like that. my wife and I just didn't feel comfortable about it. Especially about income and part-time work.

I didn't read all of it, because it was way too long for my attention span. I did notice some of the questions were pretty intrusive, like asking if a person has an emotional condition, or something like that. I can see why people wouldn't feel comfortable answering a lot of it.

[masterrig 1]

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Yes, that's it! Did you notice the questions? They ask if you are married then later, ask if you are divorced... things like that. my wife and I just didn't feel comfortable about it. Especially about income and part-time work.

I didn't read all of it, because it was way too long for my attention span. I did notice some of the questions were pretty intrusive, like asking if a person has an emotional condition, or something like that. I can see why people wouldn't feel comfortable answering a lot of it.

It was kinda funny, during the phone conversation with the census taker. She asked me if, I was married? I said; "Yes!" Later, she asked the question; "Are you married, single or divorced?" My response was; "I'm still married!" When she asked questions about income, I politely declined because, "I don't feel comfortable divulging that information to a stranger!" What was really strange was when she asked if my wife was, "single, married or divorced! I told the woman; "Nothing's changed in the last 5-minutes, we're still, married!"


Chuck

[kallend 2,114]

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Yes, that's it! Did you notice the questions? They ask if you are married then later, ask if you are divorced... things like that. my wife and I just didn't feel comfortable about it. Especially about income and part-time work.

I didn't read all of it, because it was way too long for my attention span. I did notice some of the questions were pretty intrusive, like asking if a person has an emotional condition, or something like that. I can see why people wouldn't feel comfortable answering a lot of it.

So you have an emotional condition that makes you uncomfortable answering questions about your emotional condition.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Andy9o8 2]

So anyhow, they never sent us a form. And the thinker I do, the gladder I get.

[rhaig 0]

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Yes, that's it! Did you notice the questions? They ask if you are married then later, ask if you are divorced... things like that. my wife and I just didn't feel comfortable about it. Especially about income and part-time work.

I didn't read all of it, because it was way too long for my attention span. I did notice some of the questions were pretty intrusive, like asking if a person has an emotional condition, or something like that. I can see why people wouldn't feel comfortable answering a lot of it.

So you have an emotional condition that makes you uncomfortable answering questions about your emotional condition.

great... you just put him in an infinite loop.

--
Rob

[Shotgun 1]

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I didn't read all of it, because it was way too long for my attention span. I did notice some of the questions were pretty intrusive, like asking if a person has an emotional condition, or something like that. I can see why people wouldn't feel comfortable answering a lot of it.

So you have an emotional condition that makes you uncomfortable answering questions about your emotional condition.

I'm not comfortable answering that.

[masterrig 1]

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So anyhow, they never sent us a form. And the thinker I do, the gladder I get.

You bet! The short form we recieved later was much easier.

[riddler 0]

I think it's mostly to decide where people legally reside, so they can determine how to elect representatives. When I was younger, there were six representatives in Colorado. Since then, we've grown as a state, and now there are seven. They couldn't legally determine that we needed more representatives for the house without having the numbers to back it up.

But I also think there are definitely minority agendas on there. Why do I have to answer twice if I'm Hispanic or not? How come all the other races only get one selection?

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD