Slight Gripe about the Census.

[kijip]

I don't get the hostility or moreover the conspiracy theories around it.

It's the Census. It's in the constitution of the United States. I don't care if people aren't familiar with it- I don't get the fear and I don't see why people say they don't know about it. I recall learning about it in the 3rd grade or so and I am the product of 12 years of public school. It costs a lot of money to count over 300 million people. If you divide 300 million (and we are bigger than that) in to 15 billion, that is a pretty cheap $50 per person. So it's under $50 per person since we quite certainly have more than 300 million people in the USA.

Living in a free, democratic, society costs some money. And a certain amount of bureaucracy is part of any large, well running structure of people.

[alien_host]

Not trying to be hostile here, but my favorite census TV ad has to be the one featuring Dora the Explorer. We were watching Nick Jr. and the ad talked about the importance of filling out the form since kids need to be counted too. I just thought it was interesting that they are using a commercial geared towards kids (and I guess their parents since I saw it too).

[Indianamom2]

Here's my question:

Why do we need to include our names?

Why does the government require our telephone number? (I know what the census form said..."in case something wasn't clear", but I am 100% positive that my answers were perfectly legible and 100% clear.)

How can the forms be accurate for those who don't speak English (since I think they were only printed in English).

Just some questions I have...

[egoldber]

but I am 100% positive that my answers were perfectly legible and 100% clear

Yours may be, but a HUGE percentage will not be.

How can the forms be accurate for those who don't speak English (since I think they were only printed in English).

From the website:

"Since the 2000 Census, survey participation rates at the Census Bureau have continued to decline. Further, recent surveys have shown that the public tends to be unaware of the basic features of the Census. The Census Bureau's 2010 Census communications campaign is one of the most diverse in U.S. history with questionnaires in six languages, the first ever bi-lingual English/Spanish form, questionnaire assistance guides in 59 languages and advertising in an unprecedented 28 different languages."

[BabyMine]

Here's my question:

Why do we need to include our names?

Why does the government require our telephone number? (I know what the census form said..."in case something wasn't clear", but I am 100% positive that my answers were perfectly legible and 100% clear.)

How can the forms be accurate for those who don't speak English (since I think they were only printed in English).

Just some questions I have...

At the post office they have the Census in many other different languages. I have seen some handwritting that looked like it was another language.

[Indianamom2]

Yours may be, but a HUGE percentage will not be.



From the website:

"Since the 2000 Census, survey participation rates at the Census Bureau have continued to decline. Further, recent surveys have shown that the public tends to be unaware of the basic features of the Census. The Census Bureau's 2010 Census communications campaign is one of the most diverse in U.S. history with questionnaires in six languages, the first ever bi-lingual English/Spanish form, questionnaire assistance guides in 59 languages and advertising in an unprecedented 28 different languages."

I know it CAN be filled out in other languages, but they aren't mailed out in multiple languages...as far as I know, wouldn't the person have to request one in another language or go seek one out? And if this is the case, how can we expect the count to be accurate, because we all know that a large percentage of those non-English-speaking-people (and I would say this about English-speaking people as well) will not actively seek out a form.