Methods for Census 2000 and Statistical Adjustments

This article outlines procedures for taking the US census, making adjustments, and evaluating the results. The census turns out to be remarkably accurate. Statistical adjustment is unlikely to improve on the census, because adjustment can easily put in more error than it takes out. Indeed, error rates in the adjustment are comparable to if not larger than errors in the census. The data suggest a strong geographical pattern to such errors even after controlling for demographic variables, which contradicts basic premises of adjustment. In fact, the complex demographic controls built into the adjustment process seem on whole to have been counter-productive.