US Census

[David]

What are we (Americans) required to answer for the US Census? I have read from may blogs online that people are only wanting to answer how many people are in the household.

I just got the census form today. The questions on the form are the following:

1. How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
2. Were there any additional people people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?
3. Is this house, apartment, or mobile home-
4. What is your telephone number?
5. Please provide information for each person living here. Start with a person living here who own or rents this house, apartment, or mobile home. If the owner or renter lives elsewhere, start with any adult living here. This will be for person 1. Last name, First Name.
6. What is Person 1's sex?
7. What is Person 1's age and what is Person 1's date of birth?
8. Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
9. What is Person 1's race?
10. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
Then you answer all those questions for all the people in the house.

I do not like answering all those questions. I do not feel that they need all the information that they are asking for. What are your thoughts?

[Hermskii]

Interesting. I just got the form today but have not looked at it yet. If those are real questions, that is sad. I'll answer them cause that is what a good citizen does. It only matters to do it because if you lie, your county won't get the money from the gov it needs to support that quantity of people.

[David]

Interesting. I just got the form today but have not looked at it yet. If those are real questions, that is sad. I'll answer them cause that is what a good citizen does. It only matters to do it because if you lie, your county won't get the money from the gov it needs to support that quantity of people.

I do not mind answering questions but, maybe my job has made me more paranoid, but I do not like given dates of dates of birth out to people in connection with the names.
I would not lie about anything, if I did not like the question, I would just leave it blank.

[*POTS*]

Questions #4 and #5 are pointless, they have no statistical purpose at all to me, unless they do wanna send you some "informative stuff" later in the future, or maybe they'd like to make a pie-chart from which you may say 13% of Americans are called "David" and their telephone numbers have a higher amount of odd digits.

[MEAT]

As an American...It's my god given right to answer these questions as accurately as I can.
But the problem is I'm not sure if "MEAT" is my first or last name?

Question 10.
Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
...in jail or prison...lol

[Hermskii]

#8
Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?

That question really bothers me because it singles out or possibly singles out a certai ntype of minority. Why not only ask if Person 1 is of Chinese origin?

Why single out a single origin? Why not specify several more up to say 10 more and then offer an other option?

Something is very very wrong here. Disturbed is how we all should feel.

[a nameless entity]

Complain in writing to your Federal representatives.

(snail mail is harder to ignore than email.)

[Reiyel_3.0]

First thing that came to my mind when I saw the question list was, is that all??

Why? Not because I actually think it´s not enough, but because in every country I´ve been to and where I lived, the census is not only a 10 question form but a 30 - 45 mins interview. Some government representative arrives to your house and starts asking questions to the house owner not only about people living in the house, or ethnics origin, or age or even telephone numbers.

Some of the questions involve religion (what is your religion and the religions of the people living in the house), educational level, number of rooms in the house, stuff owned by you (tv, dvd, pc, home theater, etc.), number of cars you have and the brands, years and model of all them, services in your house (Cable/Satellite TV, Internet, maids, etc.), and some other stuff I just can´t remember now.

I´m pretty sure this is common in most latin american countries.