I thought it was just to count how many people there were. They are asking all sorts of crazy questions. Anyone else wondering about this?
No, I wondered why they didn't ask more questions, all it was was how many people live at your address and what race they identified as.
What kind of questions? Mine only asked how many people lived here and their names, ages, and ethnic group. Maybe you got the special long form or something?
Some people get the long form and some get the short form. I was fortunate enough to get the short form.
The purpose of a census is to collect demographic information. Check the dictionary under "demographic"
The first census asked a mere ten questions. This census asked only ten. (interesting tidbit: the first census asked how many slaves you owned) ~String
My bad. The first census asked only six. See: Wiki Census of 1790. The 1800 Census asked 13 questions. ~String
In the US the purpose is to allocate seats in our lower house (House of Representatives). But they also use it for other purposes. The thing that bothers me a bit are the questions related to race. I think it is no business of government to know my race. But that is one of the 10 questions.
So they literally are just counting people, and not trying to find out anything else about them? In Australia, we have a comprehensive census every four years or so. It asks about ethnic origin, parents, religion, income, how many kids, and a whole bunch of other things. Makes for very interesting reading on the Australia Bureau of Statistics website. Also useful to government for planning stuff. And they use it for electoral boundary setting...
Yeah, they are not looking for a lot of information: - name - age - race Here is a link to the actual form: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php
Funny isn't it, some think there's to much asked then other who say there's to little asked. They can't win can they. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Cost effectiveness. Since you are already spending a shitload of money on the census, you might as well take advantage of it. Answering a few more questions isn't taking much time away but could gather valuable information. It costs the same to ask 1 or 20 questions... Once every 10 years....
Census data is used as Demographics, which covers more than just counting sheep people. Like James has mentioned the data can be used to "plan" as with every census it's possible to work out various trends in population growth, age of people in a given area etc. This allows for schools, hospitals, police services and other utility services (Gas, Water and Electricity) to know what sort of services to provide and where and to curtail spending to attempt to not over-endulge on any particular civic. (Afterall if there was a sudden increase in regards to spending on say "police", they aren't just going to leave the money sitting their or donate it to the firemen, they are going to go out and spend it even if that means frivolously. Curtailing spending means that taxpayer money gets shared in amounts equal to necessity. ) Obviously demographics can also be used in Market Research, which is a necessity when either attempting to gain the colateral to start a new company, or defining whether branching into another market is a viable option in business.
Actually, as a citizen it is, because that's how school districts and government aids are determined, beside other things...
No it is not you job to help other people datamine. But if you want to make sure your area gets its share of representation in the House it would be good to comply. And if you don't want a census worker showing up on your doorstep, it would be a good idea to fill out and return the forms.
