I ran onto an article about the upcoming census in a newspaper while eating dinner at a restaurant in Redding, California this evening. It looks to me like an all-out effort is about to be untaken to make sure that the 2010 Federal Decennial census questionnaire is read, answered, and the data collected as accurately as possible. Following is an excerpt from the article.
SAN FRANCISCO—With the launch of the 2010 census less than six months away, the U.S. Census Bureau is preparing its most targeted and far-reaching language outreach yet to more accurately count the country’s immigrants.
Census Director Robert Groves briefed San Francisco elected officials and community groups Wednesday on ways the federal agency is working to connect with residents who speak languages other than English.“We’re come to realize that a census run out of Washington, D.C., on a one-size-fits-all model doesn’t work very well,” Groves said. “We’re working to customize the experience, to use words, languages that make sense and make it easier for people to participate.”
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Along with a 10-question form in English, postcards in five other languages—Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Russian and Spanish—will point users to a Web site in their language.
Assistance guides in scores of languages, designed to walk a respondent through the English forms, will be distributed through places such as barber shops and supermarkets,or delivered door-to-door, Groves said. Over-the-phone help will be offered in up to 59 languages.
Read the full article in the October 14, 2009 edition of the York Daily Record.
