# So the Censu bureau wants me to fill out a form... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2007, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130 "2007-08-19T08:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/61 "2007-08-22T10:32:11Z")
(misssed edit) It’s not that I’m a rebel, or anything else like that, but I would object much less if I only got the short form, probably not at all, since it would have been six pages total for seven people in 2000. I would particularly like to know what makes them decide who gets the long form. If I had never changed my maiden name to my husband’s (hispanic) name, would I have never received the long form? ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/62 "2007-08-22T11:40:34Z")
[QUOTE=miamouse] (misssed edit) It’s not that I’m a rebel, or anything else like that, but I would object much less if I only got the short form, probably not at all, since it would have been six pages total for seven people in 2000. I would particularly like to know what makes them decide who gets the long form. If I had never changed my maiden name to my husband’s (hispanic) name, would I have never received the long form? [/QUOTE] It’s been almost 30 years since my experience of working the census, but I do recall many complaints about who received the long form, and why. I’m almost certain that it’s a random thing and has nothing to do w/ your ethnicity, or surname. As I mentioned previously, I worked in the office where we drew information from the forms and compiled it into usable form, strictly statistical data, we had no access to any identifying information. If you’ll read **Wallon’s** post, #52, I think you’ll see where the “under 5” misunderstanding comes from. All people are to be counted, regardless of age, but there’s no reason ask certain questions about small children, so part of the form skips them. As to the WWII breach of confidentiality, you can read this link for a explanation of the circumstances and what has/is being done to prevent reoccurance. [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=A4F4DED6-E7F2-99DF-32E46B0AC1FDE0FE&sc=I100322](http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=A4F4DED6-E7F2-99DF-32E46B0AC1FDE0FE&sc=I100322) You might also note that, almost all the information you reveal on a census form, plus much, much more, can be obtained from your credit history, which is much easier to access than any census data. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/63 "2007-08-22T14:08:41Z")
[QUOTE=Critical1] one poster who discovered his grandpa had a brother…now I am not making a judgment on the poster at all, this is purely my own take (as if I made the same discovery) big friggin hairy deal. what possible reason could I have for caring about this? I do realize that some people are into this kind of thing but I sure as hell aint. . [/QUOTE] Well, I help patrons find this kind of stuff in the census every day. Maybe not a big deal to you, but it is to the public library patrons I serve. If you don’t see the point in genealogy for the sake of it (and I agree that a lot of those people are _extremely_ tiresome) then consider it for, say, family health history reasons. It’s also helpful to some of my patrons who are looking for information on their homes or neighborhoods; you can take the census data to the city directories and find out who owned your house and what sort of people they were, etc. It sounds like a dumb hobby, but people use that sort of data to do things like lobby for historic districts to be set up or fight for historic homes. These are just a few uses of the household level data, completely ignoring the enormous wealth of information in the big statistical data which have been discussed very well by other posters. When you don’t do the census, you rob your grandchildren of information, that’s all. I show up for jury duty because it’s my civic duty, not because the sheriff’s deputies will come get me. I fill out the census for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/64 "2007-08-22T15:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=miamouse] I would particularly like to know what makes them decide who gets the long form. [/QUOTE] The long form of the 2000 U.S. Census was sent to 1 in 4 households. The long form in the decennial census has been discontinued; from now on the decennial census will consist of a short form only. The long form has been replaced by the [American Community Survey](http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2004/05factsheet.pdf) (PDF), which will be sent to 250,000 addresses per month, equal to 1-in-40 a year. No address will receive the survey more than once in any five-year period. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/65 "2007-08-22T17:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=Measure for Measure] I would be interested in learning how a population Census (as opposed to a small sample telephone survey _that the Census makes possible_) could be accurately conducted without at least token fines applied to those unwilling to stand up to their civic responsibilities. [/QUOTE] As would I. ---
**Author:** ![Zambini57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4491bb/32.png) [@Zambini57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zambini57)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/66 "2007-08-22T17:48:29Z")
Don’t bother filling it out. Just throw it in the trash. Protect your privacy. They’ll probably just sell your info and you’ll be inundated with junk mail and junk e-mail. Ignore everyone who says it’s your duty to respond, that you’ll be helping society. They’re just a bunch of do-gooder flunkies who chant slogans and sway at political rallies. They don’t know what they’re yapping about. You pay your taxes. Obligation to America over. You don’t need b’crats prying into your life under threat of penalty. Throw 'em a monkey wrench. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/67 "2007-08-22T18:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] I had to do the long form in 1990. I don’t think my answers were very helpful. [/QUOTE] Mine either. (e.g. in retrospect, I rather supect that they meant “Do you live on more than 10 acres of land _that you personally own or rent_?” However, I answered the question they actually asked.) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/68 "2007-08-22T18:31:35Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] For those who are curious what questions the 2000 U.S. Census _short_ form asked: full name, sex, age, date of birth, _whether Spanish/Hispanic/Latino, race_, and how the person is related to the person filling out the census form. [/QUOTE] “Inapplicable”, and “Human”, respectively, as exemplified by [this example](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_049.html): [QUOTE=Unca Cecil’s Correspondent] In your column on racial designations, you omitted what was to me the most important alternative. For 40 years the only response I have ever given to questions on my race put to me by anyone under any circumstances has been human. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Unca Cecil] Hear, hear, brother. For those who find “human” a bit smartass, I advise just leaving the question blank. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/69 "2007-08-22T18:43:50Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Huh? [/QUOTE] He’s referrig to the rounding up of Japanese Americans using information they provided on the census. Apparently **Critical41** is of Irish heritage and he’s saying that if the US fights a war with Ireland, he doesn’t want his nationality easily accessed by the government. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/70 "2007-08-22T19:11:15Z")
Are you **Critical41** ’s spokesperson? ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/71 "2007-08-22T19:17:19Z")
I’m sure Der Trihs will be here any moment and tell you that by coughing up census data, you’ll be enabling Bush to kill your entire family, but until that happens . . . please realize that the government does actually try and make our lives better. And they actually need, you know, real data sometime to make it happen. ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/72 "2007-08-22T19:29:04Z")
I’ve never had any problem with answering the census. It is the law, as others have pointed out. But I thought that it was a once-a-decade thing. Nope, the Census Bureau is always on the job. A couple of months ago I got a letter from the Census Bureau, saying that they would be calling me to ask questions about my spending habits. Then a few weeks later I got a message on the answering machine from a call center. I called back and found that my friends and neighbors had selected me to tell the Census Bureau where I bought stuff in the last six months. Not everything, though. They were interested in an odd selection of goods and services. From what I remember, the list included: Funeral services Legal services Cruises Luggage Spices and baking supplies Moving services In each case I had to give the name and address of the business I used (well, if I’d used those services, anyway). The call took about half an hour, and apparently they’ll be calling back in 3 months. As it turns out, the bureau was gathering information for the consumer price index. I had never thought about how elaborate it must be. [http://www.bls.gov/cex/](http://www.bls.gov/cex/) I’ve never understood the reluctance many people have of giving information to government agencies that a) they would give to a business, or b) isn’t secret to the government anyway. Once, when I was an election judge, a prospective voter refused to fill out a registration form because it asked for either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of her social security number. I pointed out that not only were we the government, but she had to produce the entire SSN in any number of other situations. No luck. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/73 "2007-08-22T19:35:15Z")
[QUOTE=spifflog] please realize that the government does actually try and make our lives better. [/QUOTE] Ha-ha-ha! Thank you. I needed a good laugh today. If I got a call like the preceeding poster, the response given would be a very impolite entreaty for the caller to perform a difficult-but-not-impossible act of self-love. The government may need this data. The government already has this data. Be damned if I’m going to give it to them just becuase they ask. I don’t care what they want it for, or how it effects people 80 years from now, or even today. They get to count how many people I am. Period. I have satisfied the requirements for representation. Any other question is just nosiness. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/74 "2007-08-22T19:46:15Z")
[QUOTE=Ispolkom] A couple of months ago I got a letter from the Census Bureau, saying that they would be calling me to ask questions about my spending habits. Then a few weeks later I got a message on the answering machine from a call center. I called back and found that my friends and neighbors had selected me to tell the Census Bureau where I bought stuff in the last six months. Not everything, though. They were interested in an odd selection of goods and services. From what I remember, the list included: Funeral services Legal services Cruises Luggage Spices and baking supplies Moving services In each case I had to give the name and address of the business I used (well, if I’d used those services, anyway). The call took about half an hour, and apparently they’ll be calling back in 3 months. As it turns out, the bureau was gathering information for the consumer price index. I had never thought about how elaborate it must be. [http://www.bls.gov/cex/](http://www.bls.gov/cex/) [/QUOTE] Sounds like an obvious scam call from some marketing outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/75 "2007-08-22T19:49:21Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] There are many ways to collect demographic information without using the blunt instrument of the law. [/QUOTE] In one sentence, you’ve gutted every single apologia for official snoopery. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/76 "2007-08-22T19:52:46Z")
[QUOTE=Steve MB] In one sentence, you’ve gutted every single apologia for official snoopery. Well done. [/QUOTE] No, he hasn’t, unless “There are many ways to exceed the speed of light” is sufficient proof of faster-than-light travel. What, pray tell, are these many ways in which the government could get a true random sample of the citizenship for purposes of census-taking? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/77 "2007-08-22T20:01:29Z")
[QUOTE=Measure for Measure] the Census cares about fighting ignorance. [/QUOTE] Interesting how unpopular that seems to be here. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/78 "2007-08-22T20:03:31Z")
If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a U.S. Census Bureau survey-taker, and you think it may be a scam, you can call the [Census Bureau’s regional office](http://www.census.gov/field/www/) in your area. They can verify if the caller is indeed authorized. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/79 "2007-08-22T20:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=Zambini57] Don’t bother filling it out. Just throw it in the trash. Protect your privacy. They’ll probably just sell your info and you’ll be inundated with junk mail and junk e-mail. Ignore everyone who says it’s your duty to respond, that you’ll be helping society. They’re just a bunch of do-gooder flunkies who chant slogans and sway at political rallies. They don’t know what they’re yapping about. You pay your taxes. Obligation to America over. You don’t need b’crats prying into your life under threat of penalty. Throw 'em a monkey wrench. [/QUOTE] Next: Order sushi & don’t pay! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130/80 "2007-08-22T20:33:03Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] he government may need this data. The government already has this data. Be damned if I’m going to give it to them just becuase they ask. I don’t care what they want it for, or how it effects people 80 years from now, or even today. They get to count how many people I am. Period. I have satisfied the requirements for representation. Any other question is just nosiness. [/QUOTE] A couple of years ago I started a thread expressing somewhat similar thoughts after receiving the “community survey.” Wrote my congressperson as well, and received some letter sayng how useful my info is. Didn’t change my opinion. I value my privacy highly, and dislike what I perceive as increasingly frequent and casual intrusions on my privacy coming from multiple directions. I’ve regularly observed that there are many folk who do not share my concern and will readily criticize and/or mock that concern. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-censu-bureau-wants-me-to-fill-out-a-form/416130.md?page=5)