New Paper on Omissions in the U.S. Census
A new paper available from the Population Reference Bureau provides data on omissions in the U.S. Census. The report is motivated by the fact that data on omissions are not widely used or easily available. While net undercounts are the foremost measure used to assess U.S. Census accuracy, omissions provide a different and important perspective on the accuracy of Census data. Net undercount figures are often misunderstood as the number of people missed in the Census, but the number of people missed in the census is reflected in omissions, not net undercounts.
In the 2010 Census the nationwide omissions rate of 5.2 percent (16 million people) compared to a net undercount rate of 0.01 percent. The net undercount rate suggests a very successful census, while the omissions rate suggests a much less accurate census. Moreover, understanding the demographic characteristics of people missed in the Census can help target outreach efforts in the 2020 Census.
The report is authored by William P. O'Hare and is available on the Population Reference Bureau website at the URL below;
https://www.prb.org/understanding-who-was-missed-in-the-2010-census/------------------------------
William O'Hare
President
O'Hare Data and Demographic Services LLC
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