Census Glossary
Here is a list of terms related to the 2010 Census:
Advance Letter: A Census Bureau letter sent early March 2010 to alert households that the Census questionnaire will be mailed or delivered to them in mid March 2010. The letter explains that their response is mandatory and that their answers will be kept confidential.
Be Counted Program: The Be Counted program provides a means for people who believe they were not counted to be included in the 2010 Census. Special Be Counted census forms in five different languages-Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Russian will be available at different locations in the community. Businesses and organizations may agree to be a Be Counted site by donating space to display a Be Counted box with forms in appropriate languages for their location. The Be Counted program runs for about four weeks in spring 2010.
Census Day: The reference date for collection of information for a census. For the decennial Census, this has been April 1 of the decade year (year ending with zero) since the 1930 census. April 1, 2010, is the reference date for the 2010 Census.
Census Partnership Specialist: The Census Partnership Specialist is a Census Bureau employee who takes a lead role in outreach and promotional efforts before and during census operations. The Specialist's main duties are increasing awareness and outreach in communities and gaining the public's cooperation and participation.
Complete Count Committee (CCC): A volunteer committee established by tribal, state, and local governments, and/or community organization leaders to include a cross section of community leaders, including representatives from government agencies; education, business, and religious organizations; community agencies; minority organizations; and the media. The committees are charged with developing and implementing a 2010 Census outreach, promotion, recruiting and enumeration assistance plan of action designed to target and address the needs of their communities.
Confidentiality: The guarantee made by law (Title 13, United States Code) to individuals who provide information to the Census Bureau, ensuring that the Census Bureau will not reveal information to others. Federal Census employees are sworn by Title 13 to protect confidentiality and are subject to criminal penalties if they violate the law with serious penalties, including a prison sentence of up to five years and a $250,000 fine. Every person with access is subject to this law.
Decennial Census: The census of population and housing taken by the Census Bureau in each year ending in zero. Article 1, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution requires that a census be taken every 10 years for the purpose of apportioning the U.S. House of Representatives. The first census of the American population was taken in 1790.
Enumeration: The process of interviewing people and recording the information on Census forms.
Enumerator: A Census Bureau employee who collects census information by visiting households during census field operations.
Hard to Count (HTC): Groups or populations who have historically been undercounted and/or traditionally have not responded well to the decennial Census questionnaire, such as ethnic/minority populations, renters, low-income, etc.
Hard to Enumerate (HTE): An area for which the environment or population may present difficulties for enumeration.
Household (HH): A person or group of people who occupy a housing unit as their usual place of residence. The number of households equals the number of occupied housing units in a census.
Housing Unit (HU): A house, townhouse, mobile home or trailer, apartment, group of rooms, or single room that is occupied as separate living quarters or, if vacant, is intended for occupancy as separate living quarters.
Local Census Office (LCO): A temporary office established to oversee census operations in a specific area. These operations include address listing field work, local recruiting, and visiting living quarters to conduct the 2010 Census.
Mailout/Mailback (MO/MB): A method of data collection in which the U.S. Postal Service delivers questionnaires to housing units, based on geocoded addresses (usually city-style mailing addresses) recorded in the Census Bureau's Master Address File. Residents are asked to complete and mail the questionnaires to a specified data capture center.
Mail Return Rate (MRR): The total number of households returning a questionnaire by mail divided by the number of estimated housing units that received a questionnaire by mail or from a Census enumerator (the only units that can return a questionnaire). This measure cannot be finalized until the enumeration is completed, and the final number of occupied housing units is determined.
Nonresponse (NR): A housing unit for which the Census Bureau does not have a completed questionnaire and from which the Census Bureau did not receive a telephone or Internet response.
Nonresponse Follow-up (NRFU): A field operation designed to obtain a completed interview from households where a questionnaire was not returned. Enumerators will make personal visits to these households to obtain completed interviews. The enumerator will enter respondents' answers to interview questions or information about the status of the housing unit (for example, vacant or nonexistent). If all attempts to contact the residents of a household are unsuccessful, an enumerator will obtain as much information as possible about the household from a neighbor, building manager, or another reliable source.
Title 13 (U.S. Code): A privacy law under which the Census Bureau operates. This law guarantees the confidentiality of census information and establishes penalties for disclosing this information. It also provides the authorization for conducting censuses in Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.
Undercount: Refers to the number of people estimated to have been missed by the Census and were not included in the count. Groups or populations who have historically been undercounted and/or traditionally have not responded well to the census have been, ethnic populations, renters, low-income living in densely populated urban areas, low-income living in thinly populated rural areas, etc.
ya es hora Census Information Center: A community center established by the ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR! partner to assist community members with any questions they have on the 2010 Census. The Center can be established in community centers, large apartment buildings, churches, and other appropriate locations. The centers are staffed by organization's staff and trained by the campaign. Centers are open about early January to May 2010.
ya es hora Community Assistance Forum: A community forum established by the ya es hora¡HAGASE CONTAR! Partner to assist community members with any questions they have on the 2010 Census questionnaire. The ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR! Toolkit provides all the necessary information on logistics and outreach for the Forum which can be held in community centers, large apartment buildings, churches, and other appropriate locations. Forums are organized by the hosting organization's staff and trained by the campaign, and should be held during March 22 to April 2010.
ya es hora Partner: A partner is a group that commits to participate in some way with Census campaign activities targeted to ensure a full Latino count.
ya es hora Questionnaire Assistance Center: A community center established by the ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR! Partner to assist people with completing their questionnaires. The Center can be established in community centers, large apartment buildings, churches, and other appropriate locations. The centers are staffed by the organization's staff and trained by the campaign. Centers are open for about four weeks, from when census questionnaires are mailed, from mid-March to mid-April 2010.