Using the internet, try to find another author who expresses a different view about the merits or demerits of the census. You might start with these resources:
Academic Search Premier (Scroll down and click the link for "Academic Search Premier")
Once you find an article or blog post, identify the author's main claim and what reasons s/he presents to support that claim.
http://www.madisonjournaltoday.com/archives/2648-OPINION-Census-is-a-joke-and-a-waste-of-tax-money.html
ReplyDeleteIn this articule, Frank Gillispe presents his opinion of the census. Gillispe sees that the census is needed to a certain degree, but finds that only two questions on the survey are actually needed. He strongly agrees that the census costs to much and in its current state believes that the whole process is a waste of money. He is infuriated by the amount spent on advertising the census and the number of jobs that have been made to accomplish what he believes is a very simple task.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/29/opinion/la-oe-adv-kenney-census-20100529
ReplyDeleteThis author's claim is that by counting illegal immigrants as citizens in the census, some states get more congressional seats than they deserve, and more generally that there are problems with the census that need to be addressed.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/the-anachronistic-coercive-unnecessary-census/article1650049/
ReplyDeletehttp://dalnews.dal.ca/2010/08/05/census.html
ReplyDeleteA mandatory census gives statistical results professionals call gold standard data, while a voluntary census is not a census at all.
-Voluntary censuses do not provide a representative, unbiased sample
-Mandatory censuses have a high response rate and draw from populations all over the country
http://censusprojectblog.org/2010/08/19/what-the-census-bureau-really-wants-to-know/
ReplyDelete- voluntary surveys produce less reliable results
- census data is valuable for the government to assist neighborhoods, families, and health.
however: the census is invasive to privacy
http://blogs.census.gov/2010census/
ReplyDeleteThere have been many reasonable critiques of the costs of the decennial census.I am rather proud of what the collective Census Bureau staff has accomplished on cost controls since I arrived in July 2009.
-Returned 22% of the allowed budget, $1.6 billion
-Response to a save taxpayers money initiative exceeded expectations
-Temporary census workers got the information that wasn't being mailed
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1468/survey-views-knowledge-of-census-likely-participation
ReplyDeletehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/10/cost-saving-census
ReplyDeleteGary Locke's claim :Relentless attention to detail, setting ambitious goals and creating precise metrics to measure performance – these were the principles I depended on during my time as Governor of Washington State, and they are the principles that helped make the 2010 Census a resounding success.
He also goes on to mention that
1)the Census determines how $400 billion in federal funds are allocated each year to local communities for everything from education and senior services to roads and police.
2)This was a huge money saver for American taxpayers, as every one percent increase in the mail response rate saved $85 million, by reducing the number of expensive door to door follow-ups.
3)the 2010 census achieved a mail-back response rate of 72 percent, which defied the predictions of experts,
http://www.nationalpost.com/Voluntary+version+census+proved+unreliable+costly/3297456/story.html
ReplyDeletehttp://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=116&sid=55aaac29-c416-4e7a-8314-fa04504421cf%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=48862093
ReplyDelete"Count Me In"
The claim in this article seems to be that the census is not getting enough information for its cost. It is expensive, but asks for less information than many other forms we fill out voluntarily.
John Baker and Elliott Stonecipher argue that the Census is unconstitutional now due to counting illegal immigrants and using the count to determine House seats in Congress. One reason given is the early censuses did not ask the same type of information and how it took a count.
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052970204908604574332950796281832.html
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/press/16-billion-budget-surplus,1421135.html
ReplyDeleteClaim: Having achieved its goal of a 72% mail-back participation rate, coupled with strong cooperation by non-respondents with Census workers during door-to-door follow-up visits, this week the U.S. Census bureau reported a budget surplus of $1.6 billion to be returned to the government.
Reasons:
• Increased census awareness
• Fully integrated program of advertising and community involvement
• Budget Surplus
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/mandatory+census+mindless+government+warned/3441591/story.html
ReplyDeleteMain Claim- a voluntary census is mindless and will create a greater number of more complex problems than a mandatory census
Reasons
1.Government statistics are vital and voluntary census will produce unreliable data
2. census data is valuable
3. arguments on cost and privacy are unfounded
http://censusprojectblog.org
ReplyDelete-Supports keeping the census
-An attack on the Republican party for wanting to destroy the census or make it voluntary
-Says census is important to improve our quality of life
-Written by Terri Ann Lowenthal
-Gave examples of how Canada recently changed to a voluntary census, and it failed
http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=116&sid=9246d51c-f
ReplyDeleteDue to technological innovations, the high cost of census cannot be repeated like that the one in 2000.
There should be a technological creation for census to decrease cost, accuracy, and quality.