They say it will only be 10 questions – and take about minutes to complete. Let’s hope those ten questions are genealogically useful in 2082.
According to the Census 2010 Newsletter, the scope of the operation includes counting nearly
310 million people within a few months, delivering more than 134 million questionnaires, managing almost 500 local census offices and hiring 1.4 million field staff workers. However one thing should make the procedure go much more smoothly this year: instead of the one in six households who received a more detailed long form of 51 questions in 2000, every recipient will receive a short form of only 10 questions. This short form is expected to take only a few minutes to complete and households will be asked to provide key demographic information including whether a housing unit is rented or owned, the address of the residence and the names, genders, and the ages and races of others living in the household. The Census Bureau is quick to stress that it cannot share any individual’s responses with anyone, including other federal agencies, by law.
“We hope that the new 10 question form will prompt more participation in the upcoming census,” said Deni Luna, census media specialist. “Our goal was to keep the questions short and easy. The form shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to fill out.”
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The 2010 census is still in the building awareness stage and will be setting up questionnaires at community centers and other neighborhood sites. For more information about the 2010 Census, visit www.census.gov/2010census
Read the full article at the October 21, 2009 edition of the Seattle Medium website.
