# Perusing my Census Form **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695 "2010-03-16T20:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/41 "2010-03-17T13:10:49Z")
Finished mine. It couldn’t have taken me more than a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/42 "2010-03-17T13:23:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wasting money? How much money was wasted in sending _every fuckinbody_ a letter telling them that they would be receiving their census paperwork in a week? I believe that they spent $85 million on sending out that mailing, which was designed to reduce the number of people who throw out the census form or fail to fill it out, necessitating a visit from a census worker at an estimated cost of $56 per visit. So fill out the damned form already. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/43 "2010-03-17T13:25:57Z")
BTW, to those who are concerned about the privacy implications, I’m sure that large marketing firms have much more detailed profiles on each American than the US Census Bureau does, without your needing to fill out any form whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/44 "2010-03-17T13:28:40Z")
Do I have a different form than ya’ll? Mine asks questions about our mortgage, whether we have a home equity loan, and a whole llotta other stuff. It’s several pages (although I haven’t looked thru the whole thing yet). Do some folks get singled out for more invasive questions? (And no, I won’t answer those questions. It’s none of their f—ing business.) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/45 "2010-03-17T13:37:51Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I live by myself. It took me all of 42 seconds to fill out the form. I did put it in the envelope upside down though. Will that make a difference? I’m going to put my stamp upside down and see if anybody comes to rescue me. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > This is my first census and I’m kind of bummed that the questions are so blah. No one ever wants to know about the real _me_. _sigh_ Write it all over the margins. They like that. > [@pullin](#): > > Do I have a different form than ya’ll? Mine asks questions about our mortgage, whether we have a home equity loan, and a whole llotta other stuff. It’s several pages (although I haven’t looked thru the whole thing yet). Do some folks get singled out for more invasive questions? I’m bummed I didn’t get the long form. I like to fill out forms. I’m jealous. How did _you_ get the fun one? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/46 "2010-03-17T13:38:22Z")
People give out their phone number at a cash register, or will fill out ENTER TO WIN A 2010 LEXUS!!! cards that have name, address, phone number, email and possibly income information. Or they’ll take tons of facebook quizzes that are clearly “disguised” advertising/marketing information gathering. But goddamnit, they are _not_ gonna give any info to the census!!! :mad: I seriously don’t get it. It’s useful information that governments and organizations need in order to improve services (or even provide them at all). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/47 "2010-03-17T14:00:48Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Do I have a different form than ya’ll? Mine asks questions about our mortgage, whether we have a home equity loan, and a whole llotta other stuff. It’s several pages (although I haven’t looked thru the whole thing yet). Do some folks get singled out for more invasive questions? You may be looking at the [American Community Survey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Community_Survey), sent to about 250,000 households each month, and designed to replace the long census form. You should also receive a ten-question decennial census form. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/48 "2010-03-17T14:14:32Z")
Anyone who refuses to fill out the census (and complains that census workers are “hounding them”) is a privacy crank and should really see a therapist. Apparently there’s a shack in a national park somewhere “off the grid” waiting for your residence… ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/49 "2010-03-17T14:32:27Z")
**Broomstick** , I’m curious about the race question. Given that the word is pretty useless and that there really is no definition that people could use to consistently and accurately fill out the form, what exactly do they tell you about it and what if people ask you questions about it, how are you supposed to answer? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/50 "2010-03-17T14:35:07Z")
Jesus Christ, I can’t believe this shit. Seriously, you have a problem with the _census?_ My god, what must living with you people be like? I had to call up my garage tenant yesterday. “Hey - what’s your date of birth? And do you consider yourself white?” \ ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/51 "2010-03-17T14:52:56Z")
I’m cool with the form, except “race.” How the heck am I supposed to know what race I am? I never had a blood test for that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/52 "2010-03-17T15:02:41Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > **Broomstick** , I’m curious about the race question. Given that the word is pretty useless and that there really is no definition that people could use to consistently and accurately fill out the form, what exactly do they tell you about it and what if people ask you questions about it, how are you supposed to answer? My training isn’t until next week, so I don’t have an official answer (yet), but I seem to recall from my prior (limited) experience that the census wants YOU to answer the race question, so basically, it’s what you consider yourself to be. No one is going to inspect your family tree or perform DNA tests or whatever. All you folks putting down “Human” - I think that eventually gets dumped in the bucket labeled “Other”. The reason there is a bucket labeled “other” is because, first of all, there are a LOT more people of multi-ethnic backgrounds than there used to be, or at least more admit to it, and some people like adoptees really don’t know for sure. If you’re blue eyed and blond haired and tall as a Swede but claim to be Asian/Pacific Islander and African I’m not going to argue with you. (Not the least because you’re also probably bigger than me. 🙂 ) It’s not a totally useless question, though, as it can impact some services. For example, in providing information in languages other than English - if a municipality notes a rise in people of Hispanic background they may look into providing more social services in Spanish like translators in local ER’s and on 911 lines for emergency situations. That’s just one example. Ethnic background can also affect susceptibility to certain diseases and conditions, so a predominantly African-descent area might need sickle cell anemia services and a predominantly European one might need help for people with cystic fibrosis, so there are some public health considerations at work here, too. And the number of children in an area affecting school planning has already been mentioned. If I get a different or more definitive answer next week I’ll let ya’ll know. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/53 "2010-03-17T15:54:40Z")
Am I correct in thinking that the Census Bureau does not conduct audits of completed forms? In other words, if one were to inflate the number of people at one’s abode, that would never be discovered? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/54 "2010-03-17T16:00:40Z")
Pretty much yes. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/55 "2010-03-17T16:08:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wasting money? How much money was wasted in sending _every fuckinbody_ a letter telling them that they would be receiving their census paperwork in a week? Since they were sent bulk, I would estimate maybe 30¢ each. Versus at least $56 in wages and mileage _per visit_ to send some one out? I say the bulk mailing would be a net savings. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/56 "2010-03-17T16:14:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wasting money? How much money was wasted in sending _every fuckinbody_ a letter telling them that they would be receiving their census paperwork in a week? Because you genuinely seem uninformed about the issue, it has been proven that alerting people through advertising and direct mail helps to improve the initial response rate on the census. For every one percentage point of increased participation of mailing back the census form, as opposed to throwing it away, thinking it is junk mail, letting it sit around, or just turning into a black helicopter conspiracy theory whacko, the government saves $85 million dollars. The Census Bureau is hoping that the pre-mailing will actually raise participation by a shade more than 5 percentage points, and save half a billion dollars. I’ll never understand why some people somehow find the courage to give the DMV personal information like their name, address, picture, criminal history, and medical information, but when it comes to a very simple and vague survey that has serious importance to not only running the government and studying the American people, those people turn into privacy nuts and try to figure out the most insane abstractions to make the question “How many people live with you?” some deep metaphysical issue which simply cannot be answered. “What does “live” mean? What does “people” mean? What does “you” mean? What does “with” mean? I can’t possibly be expected to answer such a nonsense question!!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/57 "2010-03-17T16:18:43Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > This is a better policy than every store you go to which asks for your name, address, phone number, want to be on our mailing list, oh come on sure you want to be on our mailing list, can we provide your personal info to everyone who will pay us a nickel and oh be one of the cool crowd and be on our mailing list. But, and this is a big but… …filling out the census doesn’t get me a discount on a bag of Doritos. That adds up, man. [QUOTE=Mahaloth] 1. They send a manager to ask you the questions on the form and, if needed, locate a postal worker to go through your mail and look for unique names to count. Only postal workers can handle mail and none is opened, but they are allowed to flip through the mail and find out how many live there. [/QUOTE] My ex-wife still gets a ton of mail though she hasn’t lived here since before the _last_ census, and my current cat ( + my last name) as well as my deceased-for-three-years cat both get a couple of letters a week (a vet thought it would be cute to send them mail like “time for your check-up Quinne Morgan!”, then apparently they sold the names to some pet-product marketers, who apparently thought they were buying people names). My mail makes it look like I’ve got a wife and a couple of daughters or three wives. I’d imagine the mail thing is kind of a last resort? I’m wary to send mine in yet, not because of privacy concerns, but because I honestly have no idea who’s going to be living where right now. My girlfriend’s asking to either live here for a while, or for me to start moving into her home, so there’s a potential of 0, 1, or 2 occupants both here and at her place right now. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/58 "2010-03-17T16:20:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Because you genuinely seem uninformed about the issue, it has been proven that alerting people through advertising and direct mail helps to improve the initial response rate on the census. It has been proven? Do you have a cite for that claim? It just seems to me that the people who are not going to respond (which does not include me btw) are not going to be tweaked into responding by a second mailing. Personally, I have a problem with the cost aspect. If there were a balanced budget amendment in place, I would not object to the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/59 "2010-03-17T16:23:30Z")
If you have a problem with the cost aspect of the mass mailing, don’t you think it would be better to fill out the form when you receive it, rather than forcing the Census Bureau to send people to your home multiple times in an attempt to collect the data? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695/60 "2010-03-17T16:23:32Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > I’m wary to send mine in yet, not because of privacy concerns, but because I honestly have no idea who’s going to be living where right now. My girlfriend’s asking to either live here for a while, or for me to start moving into her home, so there’s a potential of 0, 1, or 2 occupants both here and at her place right now. I’m in a similar situation. My gf and I live @ her place 5 or so days out of the week. We stay at my place one or two days a week. We live maybe 3 miles apart, as the crow flies but are in different townships, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perusing-my-census-form/532695.md?page=4)