Since the first census in 1790, various federal statutes have directed enumerators to obtain not only a headcount, but also information about the people. This information is needed so government agencies can accurately administer funding for various programs. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services uses information on household income to determine where pockets of poverty exist, and then allocate resources where they are most needed. However, in order to save money for the 2000 census, the Census Bureau will ask only those questions which Federal statutes require. Tabulating the results of the census is very expensive, and asking unnecessary questions will only add to the expense.

Long and Short Forms
In a further effort to reduce the cost of tabulating the results, the Census Bureau will not ask all of its questions to every household. Everyone will be asked their name, age, gender, relationship to the household head, race, whether that race is of Hispanic origin, and how long they have resided at their present locality. In all, only seven questions will be asked on the census "short form." The Census Bureau notes that it has never asked so few questions since the 1820 Federal Census.¹

Note that most people will not be asked where they were born, their marital status, country of ancestry, citizenship status, language spoken at home, or year of arrival in the United States. These questions will be on the census "long form" which will be given to a random sample of households. Households in rural areas will be sampled at a higher rate than those in urban areas. Since rural areas contain fewer people than do urban areas, a higher percentage of the households must be sampled for the results to be statistically valid. The households randomly selected for the long form will be asked, in addition to the questions noted above, information regarding income, occupation, work status, veteran status, place of work, transportation to work, number of motor vehicles available, level of education attained, place of residence on 1 April 1995, disabilities of household members, household members as care givers, and several questions regarding the housing structure.

The Census Bureau has been using statistical sampling since the 1940 Federal Census. In that census, the enumerators used sheets containing forty lines. The individuals who happened to be listed on the fourteenth and twenty-ninth lines of each schedule were asked the additional questions.² Beginning with the 1970 Federal Census, each household completed a separate schedule that was mailed back to the Census Bureau.³ If the letter carrier delivers a long form to your home on 1 April 2000, each member of your household will be asked every question on the form.

The 2000 census will probably be the last time a long form is used. For the 2010 and subsequent censuses, the Census Bureau expects to use only the short form.⁴ Because sampling began with the 1940 census, the 1930 census (which will become available in 2002—seventy-two years after the census is taken) will be the last census with genealogical value similar to the 1880 through 1920 censuses. From 1940 to 2000, the censuses will be valuable when they are released, but we can no longer expect the Census Bureau to perform the job of documenting our lives for the benefit of our posterity. We will have to do that ourselves by writing personal histories, and keeping diaries and journals.

In previous censuses, enumerators have not always been efficient. Some households have been counted twice, while other households have not been counted at all. For the 2000 census, the Census Bureau proposes to use traditional methods to obtain information from at least ninety percent of the households in a given tract (generally a city block). Using statistical techniques, the Census Bureau will estimate the characteristics of the remaining households. The Census Bureau will also use computer analysis of census schedules to insure that no households are counted twice.⁵ Whether or not the Census Bureau will actually create adjustments for undercounting depends on Congress.

Recall that every question in the 2000 census is necessary for government agencies to have the data they need to carry out their programs. So without the census long form, the Census Bureau intends to obtain the necessary information through the American Community Survey.

American Community Survey
The American Community Survey began in 1997 as a pilot program in eight communities. In 1998, several additional sites were added, and in 1999 thirty-one sites will be sampled.⁶ Households randomly selected in the handful of cities or counties will receive a form in the mail that asks similar questions to those in the 2000 census long form. Households will be instructed to mail the form back; those that do not will be interviewed by telephone as enumerators will not be making personal visits.

The statistics derived from the American Community Survey will be compared to statistics from the 2000 census long form to verify that the survey is equivalent. Assuming that no unexpected differences arise between the American Community Survey data and the year 2000 census data, in the years 2001–2003, the Census Bureau will vastly expand the number of sites where the American Community Survey is conducted. The Census Bureau will release survey statistics on CD-ROM, without including information about individual households.

In the year 2003, Congress will decide either to expand the American Community Survey into an annual nationwide survey, or to abandon it and use a long form in the 2010 census. While the census long form is a less expensive method, the data collected is of less value to government agencies. This is because the census long form is collected only once in ten years, while the American Community Survey data is to be collected annually. Hence, changes can be detected much more rapidly, allowing government agencies to make better decisions about how tax dollars are allocated.

Beginning in the year 2003, the Census Bureau plans to sample three percent of the households in a given area annually. Rural areas will be sampled at a higher rate. Sampling will occur in a five-year cycle so after each cycle, 15% of the households in a given area will have been sampled (up to 25% in rural areas, depending on funding). No household will be sampled more than once per cycle.

Based on these sample sizes, it is likely that most of us will be sampled sooner or later for the American Community Survey. But will our descendants have access to the answers we provide? Maybe. Until research for this article brought the issue to the awareness of the Census Bureau, employees planning the American Community Survey had not considered the issue of allowing public access to the responses of individual households. One employee believed that genealogists would not be interested in this data, since the American Community Survey is not a census, but only a survey of a small percentage of households.

Any experienced genealogist could have informed this employee that genealogists have never been interested in censuses per se, only the information contained in the census. As this article noted earlier, the 1930 census was the last to ask everyone all of the questions, and the 2000 census will probably be the last one to ask questions such as where individuals were born. Hence, our genealogist descendants will be looking for information wherever they can find it, and certainly they will want to know whether or not we were ever sampled by the American Community Survey.

Preserving the Data
Unfortunately, the Census Bureau has not preserved the paper forms mailed in by respondents in the pilot program because, in the future, many households will provide their answers to the American Community Survey via telephone. Fortunately, the Census Bureau has computer records of the original answers made by the households interviewed. These computer records include the respondents’ names. Hence, if this data is made available to the public in the future, a genealogist will be able to conduct a computer search of the data to know which, if any, ancestors were sampled, and then obtain a complete printout of the ancestors’ data.

The challenge facing the genealogical community is to insure that individual household responses are preserved after the data is of no further use to the Census Bureau and government agencies. Assuming that the data is preserved, it will be stored through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Therefore, the genealogical community must also work with NARA to assure the release of this data to the public when it no longer infringes on the privacy of the respondents.

The genealogical community is acting on these challenges. Several years ago, the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) formed a joint committee dealing with issues regarding record preservation and access.

Jack Brissee, committee chair, states that preservation of Census Bureau data "is a responsibility we owe to the genealogists of the future. The Records Preservation and Access Committee will be dealing with this issue at its January [1999] meeting in Salt Lake City with the objective of developing positive, practical recommendations to the Census Bureau and the National Archives and Records Administration. While we cannot be assured the Committee’s recommendations will be accepted, government officials have shown themselves to be open to the concerns and suggestions of the genealogical community when presented by bodies such as the Records Preservation and Access Committee."⁷

The Records Preservation and Access Committee will also work with NARA and the Census Bureau to develop preservation plans for the original 2000 census schedules. Early in its planning process, the Census Bureau decided to hire a contractor to assist in entering the results of the census into its computers. On 30 August 1996, the Census Bureau invited businesses to bid on a system designed to capture the data from the census forms and convert it to digital format. The Census Bureau informed the bidders that the data capture system had to include a provision for preserving the original census data for historical preservation.⁸

The selected contractor has since designed a system that will use computer scanners to record each census schedule when it arrives.⁹ Software will then convert the information into ASCII text, and the original images will be stored in the graphic format, TIFF. The Census Bureau will store the ASCII data and the TIFF files on magnetic tape, and transfer it to NARA for storage. Note that the Census Bureau plans do not include preserving images of the census schedules on microfilm, contrary to prior censuses including the 1990 census.

The Census Bureau is required to obtain approval from NARA for their data storage plans because they involve storage of data in nonstandard formats.¹⁰ NARA has not yet accepted the Census Bureau plans for preserving the scanned images, since TIFF is a nonstandard format. Nonstandard computer formats often become obsolete sooner than more widely used formats, making NARA’s job of preserving the computer records more difficult. Therefore, the Census Bureau is considering several alternative preservation plans of the 2000 census schedules. According to a Census Bureau employee, the method of preservation chosen for the 2000 census must fit within the budget and meet all legal and regulatory requirements, the approval of NARA, and an efficiency standard that will not effect other priorities of the Census Bureau.

Since the data from the original forms will be converted to text format, it is likely that the computer will make mistakes in reading certain answers. The Census Bureau plans to minimize such errors, but some are certain to go undetected. Hence, preserving the original census form images so they can be viewed when the 2000 census is made public in 2072 is a priority to the genealogical community.

Because Census Bureau employees are very busy preparing for the enumeration on 1 April 2000, letters from individual genealogists about preservation of the census could be counterproductive. The Records Preservation and Access Committee of the NGS and FGS will convey to NARA and the Census Bureau the importance of preserving the original census images for historians and genealogists.

Endnotes
 1. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, Census 2000 Publicity Office, "Census 2000 Questions Fewest in 180 Years; 10 Minutes to Fill Out Short Form, Census Bureau Says," press release dated 30 March 1998; available via Internet at http://www.census.gov/pub/Press-Release/cn98-03.html

 2. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, 200 Years of U.S. Census Taking (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1989), 64.

 3. Ibid., 83.

 4. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, The American Community Survey: Your Community’s Key to the Future [brochure] (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1997).

 5. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, Report to Congress: The Plan for Census 2000 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1997), 22-23.

 6. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, The American Community Survey: Your Community’s Key to the Future [brochure] (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1997).

 7. Jack Brissee to Author, 11 November 1998; e-mail correspondence in the possession of Author.

 8. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, Acquisition and Security Division, "Solicitation, Offer and Award," Request for Proposals dated 30 August 1996; available via Internet at http://www.census.gov/tsd/www/dcs2krfp.htm.

 9. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, Information Technology Operational Plan 1998-2002 for the Decennial Census (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1997), 4.

10. National Archives and Records Administration, Information About the Center for Electronic Records, General Information Leaflet #36 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, n.d.).

Chad R. Milliner, AG, is a professional genealogist specializing in British research. He resides in Salt Lake City, Utah and is a member of the Records Preservation and Access Committee of the National Genealogical Society and the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

Further Information on the Internet
Census Bureau plans for the year 2000 census http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/2khome.htm

American Community Survey
http://www.census.gov/CMS/www/
(Many documents are stored in a format that requires the use of a reader known as Adobe Acrobat which can be downloaded from the Census Bureau Internet site without charge.)

How NARA preserves computer files http://www.nara.gov/nara/electronic/

Records Preservation and Access Committee, site of the Federation of Genealogical Societies http://www.fgs.org/fgs-recs.htm