| Item | Abbreviation/ Acronym |
Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 Census Program for Evaluations and Experiments | CPEX | The 2010 CPEX will involve evaluations, experiments, and operational assessments that ultimately will evaluate the 2010 Census and inform planning for post-census testing and research. |
| '90 Plus Five | A Census 2000 public relations program and a component of the How America Knows What America Needs campaign that challenged governors, mayors, tribal leaders, and other officials to increase their communities' initial mail response rates by at least five percentage points over their 1990 response rates. See initial mail response rate. | |
| A Streamlined Acquisition Process | ASAP | The process the Census Bureau uses to acquire services. There are six phases: 1) Bureau-integrated strategic plan and budget, 2) project plan, 3) market research, 4) selection of acquisition vehicle, 5) meeting of project objective and managing of acquisition, and 6) close-out. |
| Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation | A.C.E. | A coverage measurement method used to estimate the number of people and housing units missed or erroneously included in Census 2000. The A.C.E. is a nationwide sample survey conducted by the Census Bureau independent of the census. |
| Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation 2000 | A.C.E. 2000 | The automated system for assignment, control, and tracking of all A.C.E. field operations, including both paper (paper assisted personal interview) and automated (computer assisted telephone interview). |
| Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation Regional Office | ACERO | A separate office in each regional office, created to conduct the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation. |
| ACS Coverage Program | ACS-CP | Alternative terminology for the Community Address Updating System, which was originally part of the American Community Survey (ACS), but is now part of the post-2000 enhancement of the Master Address File and TIGER® database. See Community Address Updating System. |
| active entity | A governmental unit that has officials who carry out legally prescribed functions, provide services, and/or raise revenues. The Census Bureau differentiates active entities by their fiscal independence and whether they provide general or limited, special services. See functional status, functioning entity, governmental unit, inactive entity, nonfunctioning entity. | |
| add | A housing unit whose address was not on the Census Bureau's initial Decennial Master Address File, and that was retained in the final decennial census inventory. Adds can be found during block canvassing, address listing, Local Update of Census Addresses operations, update/leave, urban update/leave, update/enumerate, list/enumerate, Nonresponse Followup, and Coverage Improvement Followup field operations, as well as from the Be Counted and Telephone Questionnaire Assistance operations. | |
| address | The house number and street or road name or other designation assigned to a housing unit, special place, business establishment, or other structure for purposes of mail delivery and/or to enable emergency services, delivery people, and visitors to find the structure. See basic street address, city-style address, E-911 address, fire number, house-number-and-street name address, location description, mailing address, and noncity-style address. | |
| address binder | AB | A special version of an address register used for some Census 2000 field operations. The binder contained address register listing pages that were preprinted with addresses and related information acquired by previous census operations. |
| address break | The city-style address on each side of a boundary or at an intersection of a street with another feature; for example, 1234 Main Street is inside an incorporated place and 1236 is outside the place. See address range. | |
| Address Coding Guide | ACG | A forerunner of the Geographic Base File/Dual Independent Map Encoding File and the TIGER® database. Used for the 1970 census. |
| Address Control File | ACF | The residential address list used by the Census Bureau to label questionnaires, control the mail response check-in operation, and determine the Nonresponse Followup workload for the 1990 census. See Master Address File. |
| Address List Map Review | ALMR | A January 1998 program that asked local and tribal government officials to review Census Bureau maps to identify incorrect and missing map features and names so that the Census Bureau could update the TIGER® database in time for the address listing operation. They also were asked to record address ranges for any street segments that used city-style mailing addresses and to identify city-style address breaks for streets and roads that intersected the legal boundary. |
| Address List Review | See Local Update of Census Addresses. | |
| address listing | AL | A Census 2000 field operation to develop the address list in areas with predominantly noncity-style mailing addresses. A lister entered, in an address register, the address and/or a physical/location description for each living quarters within a specified area. The lister marked the location of each residential structure on a block map by drawing a map spot and assigning a map spot number. The lister also updated and corrected the map if necessary. Called "prelist" for the 1990 census. |
| address listing page | An individual page in an address register, with either no entries or preprinted addresses and related information. | |
| address range | The lowest and highest address numbers used to identify structures along each side of a street segment that has city-style addresses. The Census Bureau usually expands the range to include all possible numbers, not just the existing ones (for example, the Census Bureau may expand the actual addresses of 105, 111, 123, and 131 on the odd-numbered side of a street to 101-199). Usually, an address range on one side of a street contains only even or only odd numbers, but sometimes it contains both. See address break, Automated Address Range Program. | |
| address register | AR | A book used by field staff to record or verify addresses and related information for all living quarters in an assignment area. It also includes instructions on how to perform the job and a set of maps for the assignment area. See address binder. |
| address register area | ARA | A term used for the 1990 census. Called an assignment area for Census 2000, and enumeration district for preceding decennial censuses. |
| Address System Information Survey | ASIS | A Census Bureau survey, conducted by telephone in 1993 and 1996, to determine the type of mailing addresses used in a county or, in New England, an incorporated place or minor civil division. It applied to geographic entities that, according to the Census Bureau's records, used city-style addresses for fewer than 95 percent of their residential mailing addresses, or that previously reported that part of the entity was served by noncity-style mailing addresses. The purpose of the ASIS was to determine the most effective method of enumerating each geographic entity for Census 2000. |
| Administrative and Customer Services Division | ACSD | Census Bureau. Offers administrative services to internal customers. It prepares publications, such as the Statistical Abstract of the United States, and provides external customers with links to American FactFinder. |
| Advance Census Report | ACR | An unaddressed short-form questionnaire delivered by U.S. Postal Service letter carriers in advance of the actual enumeration in list/enumerate areas. Enumerators picked up completed ACRs, checked them for completeness and consistency, transferred the responses to standard census questionnaires, and completed any missing information or entire questionnaires if necessary. These were used for the 1990 census, but only in the Island Areas for Census 2000. |
| advance letter | The Census Bureau sent an advance letter to alert households that the census questionnaire would be sent or delivered to them soon (for every area except list/enumerate and update/enumerate areas). The advance letter enabled households to request a questionnaire in certain languages. See reminder card. | |
| Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act | ANCSA | Legislation (Public Law 92-203, as amended) enacted in 1972 establishing Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native villages to conduct business and nonprofit activities by and for Alaska Natives. |
| Alaska Native Regional Corporation | ANRC | A corporate entity established to conduct both business and nonprofit affairs of Alaska Natives, pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. |
| Alaska Native village | ANV | A local governmental unit in Alaska that constitutes an association, band, clan, community, group, tribe, or village, recognized pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. ANVs do not have clearly defined boundaries. See Alaska Native village statistical area, governmental unit, and legal entity. |
| Alaska Native village statistical area | ANVSA | A statistical entity that represents the settled portion of an Alaska Native village for data presentation purposes. |
| American Community Survey | ACS | A monthly sample household survey conducted by the Census Bureau to obtain information similar to the long-form census questionnaire. It was first tested in 1995, and is expected to replace the long form for the 2010 Census. Beginning in 2004, the nationwide survey will provide annual data for social and economic characteristics for many geographic entities and population groups. In 2004, they must have a minimum population of 65,000; in 2006, 20,000; and in 2008, there will be no population limit, and the data also will be available for census tracts and perhaps block groups. See ACS Coverage Program. |
| American FactFinder | AFF | An electronic system for access and dissemination of Census Bureau data on the Internet. The system offers prepackaged data products and the ability to build user-selected tables and maps. The system serves as the vehicle for accessing and disseminating data from Census 2000 (as well as the 1990 census, the 1997 Economic Census, and the American Community Survey). The system was formerly known as the Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS). |
| American Indian/Alaska Native area | AIANA | A Census Bureau term that refers to these entity types: American Indian reservation, American Indian off-reservation trust land, Oklahoma tribal statistical area, joint use area, American Indian tribal subdivision, tribal designated statistical area, state designated American Indian statistical area, Alaska Native Regional Corporation, Alaska Native village, Alaska Native village statistical area. |
| American Indian area | A Census Bureau term that refers to any or all of the following entities: American Indian reservation, American Indian off-reservation trust land, Oklahoma tribal statistical area, joint use area, American Indian tribal subdivision, tribal designated statistical area, state designated American Indian statistical area. | |
| American Indian area/Alaska Native area/Hawaiian home land | AIANHH | An all-encompassing Census Bureau term referring to American Indian entities, Alaska Native entities, and Hawaiian home lands. See American Indian/Alaska Native area, Hawaiian home land. |
| American Indian off-reservation trust land | The United States holds title for specific areas in trust for the benefit of federally recognized American Indian tribes (tribal trust land) or for individual American Indians (individual trust land). Although trust land may be located on or off a reservation, the Census Bureau recognizes and tabulates data only for off-reservation trust land. Census data always associate off-reservation trust land with a specific federally recognized reservation or tribal government. See American Indian trust land. | |
| American Indian reservation | A federal American Indian reservation is an area that has been set aside by the United States for the use of one or more federally recognized American Indian tribes. It covers territory over which a tribe(s) has primary governmental authority. Its boundary is defined by tribal treaty, agreement, executive or secretarial order, federal statute, or judicial determination. A state American Indian reservation is an area that a state government has allocated to a tribe recognized by that state, but not by the federal government. See American Indian area, American Indian off-reservation trust land, joint use area. | |
| American Indian tribal subdivision | A legal subdivision of a federally-recognized American Indian reservation, off-reservation trust land, or Oklahoma tribal statistical area. These entities are internal units of self-government or administration that serve social, cultural, and/or economic purposes for American Indians. | |
| American Indian trust land | TL | Area for which the United States holds title in trust for the benefit of a federally recognized American Indian tribe (tribal trust land) or for an individual American Indian (individual trust land). Although trust land may be located on or off a reservation, the Census Bureau recognizes and tabulates data only for off-reservation trust land. See American Indian off-reservation trust land, Hawaiian home land. |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The most common format for text files in computers and on the Internet. Computers "read" ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a 7-digit binary number from 0000000 through 111111, and produce them as letters, numbers or symbols; 128 possible characters are defined. ASCII was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). | |
| apportionment | There are two definitions for this term: The process of dividing the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the decennial census. See reapportionment, redistricting. A distribution by the Office of Management and Budget of funds available for obligation in appropriation or fund accounts of the Executive Branch. The distribution makes funds available on the basis of time periods (usually quarterly), programs, activities, projects, objects, or combinations thereof. The apportionment system is intended to achieve an effective and orderly use of federal funds. See appropriation, authorization, and continuing resolution. | |
| apportionment calculation | The mathematical calculation to determine congressional representation by each state following a decennial census. The apportionment calculation uses the method of equal proportions. The calculation is based on the total resident population (citizens and noncitizens) of the 50 states. For some censuses, including Census 2000, the population includes U.S. Armed Forces personnel and federal civilian employees stationed outside the United States (and their dependents living with them) who can be allocated to a home state. The populations of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Island Areas are not included in the calculation. | |
| apportionment counts | The first data product from the decennial census is the apportionment population for each state and the number of representatives each state is entitled to based on the apportionment calculation. | |
| appropriation | An act of Congress that allows federal agencies to incur obligations and make payments from the U.S. Treasury for specified purposes. An appropriation is the most common means of providing budget authority, and usually follows the passage of an authorized bill. See apportionment, authorization, and continuing resolution. | |
| assignment area | AA | A small geographic area, usually a block or group of blocks, established by the Census Bureau as a basic unit for data collection by a single enumerator, lister, or other field staff. AAs may be combined into field assignments for some operations. Formerly called an address register area (1990 census) and an enumeration district (earlier censuses). See assignment area map, collection geography, field assignment. |
| assignment area locator map | AA locator map | See locator map. |
| assignment area map | AA map | A map that shows the area assigned to a member of the field staff for a specific census operation. The map displays the individual roads, streets, and nonstreet features (and their names, if any); selected legal boundaries; and, if appropriate, the city-style address ranges of the roads and streets and the census collection block numbers within and adjacent to the AA. See assignment area, block map, and locator map. |
| assignment control | For selected field operations, this operation required clerks to check the accuracy and completeness of work returned from the field to the local census office, and to route materials to appropriate staff. | |
| assignment preparation | The coordination, preparation, and assembly of all materials by assignment area (AA), including maps, address registers, and questionnaires. This operation was performed by the regional census centers for address listing and block canvassing and by the local census offices (LCOs) for other field operations. Map pouch labels and large or color maps were printed in the regional census centers; AA maps, block maps, and other 11"x17" maps were printed in the LCOs. | |
| Assistant to the Associate Director | AAD | Census Bureau. The AAD for the Decennial Census reports to the Associate Director for the Decennial Census. The AAD is responsible for the Decennial Management Division, Decennial Statistical Studies Division, Geography Division, and Decennial Systems and Contract Management Office. |
| Associate Director | AD | Census Bureau. The AD for the Decennial Census reports to the Principal Associate Director for Programs. The AD directs, and is the spokesperson for, the decennial census of population and housing and the geographic support program that is the foundation for that census and most other economic and demographic programs of the Census Bureau. |
| Asynchronous Transfer Mode | ATM | A process that increases the amount of information that can be electronically transferred at one time between sites. |
| authorization | An act of Congress that establishes or continues a federal program or agency either for a specified period of time or indefinitely, specifies its general goals and conduct, and usually sets a ceiling on the amount of budget authority that can be provided in an annual appropriation. An authorization for an agency or program usually is required before an appropriation for that same agency or program can be passed. See appropriation, apportionment, and continuing resolution. | |
| Automated Address Range Program | AARP | A program for achieving a consistent address/block number relationship between field-verified city-style addresses in the Master Address File and the address ranges in the TIGER® database. The AARP expanded address ranges to include all possible addresses on each side of a street segment. |
| automated data processing | ADP | The data processing operations performed by a system of electronic or electrical machines. |
| Automated Listing and Mapping Instrument | ALMI | A post-census 2000 system of
files and software used by the Census Bureau to enable regional office field
staff to update the address information in the Master Address File (MAF)
and the street, address location, and related information in the TIGER®
database for an area. The field staff use laptop computers to view address
and map information derived from the TIGER® database and the MAF, and to
record updates and corrections to those files. (There will be separate versions
of the ALMI for use by staff at headquarters and in the regional offices.)
As of spring 2002, the ALMI has three assignment types: • "Update block," for which staff are assigned specified blocks to canvass in order to find and record addresses not in the MAF, correct and unduplicate information for the addresses recorded in the MAF, record or correct the approximate location of each address, and update and correct street/road information. • "Locate address," for which staff are assigned specific addresses recorded in the MAF. Using the ALMI, they can display a map for a specific block, nearby blocks, and, if necessary, an overview or "locator" map of a county, census tract, governmental unit, etc., in an effort to try to find each address on the ground. They record in the ALMI the approximate location of each address that they find, identify addresses currently in the MAF that do not seem to exist or that duplicate another recorded address, and update and correct the address records and street/road information. • "Find growth," for which staff are assigned an area suspected to contain new residential development. If they find new housing, they identify the census tract(s) and block(s), which will comprise a future "update block" assignment(s). The primary intercensal users of the ALMI are the American Community Survey, other Census Bureau surveys, and the Local Update of Census Addresses Field Verification operation. The ALMI also may be used for incorporating into the MAF and the TIGER® database the updated information developed from other field operations, such as special censuses. See Group Quarters Automated Instrument for Listing. |
| Automated Master Address File Geocoding Office Resolution | AMAFGOR | A computer match that attempts to geocode city-style addresses in the Master Address File after street features, names, address ranges, and ZIP Code information have been inserted into the TIGER® database using digital files from a governmental or commercial source. See digital exchange file, Master Address File Geocoding Office Resolution. |
| bar code | A code consisting of a group of printed and patterned bars designed to be scanned and read into computer memory. | |
| barrio | A minor civil division in Puerto Rico. See barrio-pueblo, county subdivision, legal entity, minor civil division, and subbarrio. | |
| barrio-pueblo | A minor civil division in Puerto Rico. The barrio-pueblo is differentiated from other barrios because it is the historical center and seat of government of its municipio. See barrio, county subdivision, legal entity, minor civil division, and subbarrio. Note: The plural is barrios-pueblo. | |
| basic street address | BSA | The house number and street or road name portion of an address, such as 11 Main Street. The BSA does not include designations for apartments, units, lots, etc. However, when the address for a specific structure is identified by a number followed by a fraction or letter, such as 11˝ or 11A, the fraction or letter is part of the BSA. See address, city-style address, house-number-and-street-name-address, and mailing address. |
| Be Counted enumeration and Be Counted questionnaire | BC | The Be Counted program provided a means for people who believed they were not counted to be included in Census 2000. The Census Bureau placed unaddressed census questionnaires (Be Counted questionnaires) at selected sites that were easily accessible to and frequented by large numbers of people. The questionnaires also were distributed by the Questionnaire Assistance Centers and in response to requests received through Telephone Questionnaire Assistance. |
| Be Counted/ Telephone Questionnaire Assistance Field Verification | BC/TQA FV | An operation that verified the existence and residential status of addresses given to the Census Bureau by the Be Counted and Telephone Questionnaire Assistance programs. A verified address was added to the Master Address File and, if appropriate, its map-spotted location was added to the TIGER® database. |
| Because You Count | A census public relations program, and a component of the How America Knows What America Needs campaign, that encouraged people to cooperate with census takers in communities where the census was conducted in person only. It also encouraged those who did not complete and mail their census forms to work with census takers during the Nonresponse Followup operation. | |
| best and final offer | BAFO | The final and best technical and price solution a vendor provides for a request for proposal in response to a request from a government contracting officer. |
| beta site | Located at Census Bureau headquarters, the beta site is an independent operation to test and assure the quality, completeness, and security of software systems, hardware systems, and network systems before their release to a production environment. | |
| beta testing | Tests that ensure that hardware, software, and communication components are functioning properly before their release to the various decennial operating units. | |
| blank return | A questionnaire returned with little or no information. Such a questionnaire did not qualify for check-in for Census 2000. | |
| blanket mailing | The mailing of letters, questionnaires, or other forms to all addresses and/or all post office boxes in an area. | |
| block | See census block. | |
| block boundary | The features, both visible (street, road, stream, shoreline, and so forth) and invisible (county line, city limit, property line, and so forth), that delimit a census block. A boundary generally must include at least one addressable feature; that is, usually a street or road. The boundary of every legal and statistical entity recognized in the Census Bureau's standard data tabulations is a tabulation block boundary. See census block, collection block, and tabulation block. | |
| Block Boundary Definition Project | BBDP | A program like the Block Boundary Suggestion Project. It applied only to Puerto Rico. |
| Block Boundary Suggestion Project | BBSP | The first phase of the Census Bureau's Public Law 94-171 program–the Redistricting Data Program–that provided an opportunity for state officials to identify map features that they wanted the Bureau to recognize as block boundaries for the decennial census. They also could identify 1) features they did not want held as block boundaries; 2) features they wanted held as block boundaries on a contingency basis, such as the imaginary extension of a street to a city limit if that legal boundary did not change by January 1 of the census year; and 3) the legal location of the boundaries of state legislative districts. See Block Boundary Definition Project, Block Definition Project, Redistricting Data Program. |
| block canvassing | A Census 2000 field operation to ensure the currency and completeness of the Master Address File within the mailout/mailback area. Listers traveled in their assignment areas to collect and verify information to ensure that their address listing pages (derived from the Master Address File) contained a mailing address for every living quarters. They especially looked for hidden housing units (such as attics, basements, or garages converted into housing units) and houses that appeared to be one unit but actually contained multiple housing units. They also updated and corrected their Census Bureau maps. Formerly called precanvass, Targeted Canvassing, and Targeted Multi-Unit Check. See blue line and canvass. | |
| block cluster | A single block or a group of blocks, varying in size depending on the requirements of each census operation or survey. | |
| Block Definition Project | BDP | A program like the Block Boundary Suggestion Project. It applied only to federally recognized American Indian reservations, off-reservation trust land, 1990 census tribal jurisdiction statistical areas, and the District of Columbia. |
| block group | A statistical subdivision of a census tract. A BG consists of all tabulation blocks whose numbers begin with the same digit in a census tract; for example, for Census 2000, BG 3 within a census tract includes all blocks numbered between 3000 and 3999. The block group is the lowest-level geographic entity for which the Census Bureau tabulates sample data from the decennial census. See tribal block group. | |
| block locator map | A Census Bureau map that displays a census block and a substantial amount of surrounding area, to help users, such as field staff, identify where the block is located and determine an efficient route of travel to the block. See locator map. | |
| block map | A large-scale map of a single census collection block, showing roads, streets, and other features, together with their names (if any) within and adjacent to the block. Field staff use block maps to guide them in their canvass of each block, to annotate map changes, and, in some areas, to mark (map spot) and number the location of each residential structure. See assignment area map, block locator map, block number, collection block, and map spot. | |
| block number | A number assigned to each census
block. • For collecting information for Census 2000, each census block was identified uniquely within a county (or statistically equivalent entity) by a 4- or 5-digit number. All the collection blocks in a county used the same number of digits. As a result of changes to the TIGER® database after the Census Bureau had numbered the blocks in preparation for the Census 2000 field operations, the number could have an alphabetic suffix, to represent one portion of a physical block that was split by an added street or road or by the addition or change of the boundary of a county, American Indian reservation, off-reservation trust land, or military installation; for example, if an added street bisected Block 1005, the block was split into Blocks 1005A and 1005B to represent the portion of the orignal collection block on each side of that street. • For tabulating data for Census 2000, each census block was identified uniquely within a census tract by a 4-digit number. A 1990 census block number had three digits, with a potential alphabetic suffix. The first digit identifies the block group in which the census block is located. See block group, census block, collection block, and tablulation block. |
|
| block numbering area | BNA | Prior to Census 2000, a statistical subdivision of a county or statistically equivalent entity, delineated by a state government agency or Census Bureau regional census center for the purpose of grouping and numbering census blocks in counties (and statistically equivalent entities) that did not have census tracts. BNAs were discontinued for Census 2000; they were replaced by census tracts in every county and statistically equivalent entity. |
| blue line | A boundary that defined the extent of the area covered by the block canvassing operation, and later was included in the mailout/mailback and urban update/leave enumerations. Most mailing addresses inside the blue line use a house number and street name. | |
| boarded up | A housing condition in which the doors or windows of a building have been covered to prevent destruction or entry. | |
| borough | A legal entity in Alaska that the Census Bureau treats as statistically equivalent to a county; a minor civil division in each of the five counties that comprise New York city; a type of incorporated place in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. See governmental unit. | |
| boundary | A line that identifies the extent or limit of a geographic entity, such as a census block, census tract, county, or place. The legal boundaries the Census Bureau recognizes for a census are those in effect on January 1 of the census year. See block boundary. | |
| Boundary and Annexation Survey | BAS | A survey of all counties and statistically equivalent entities, all or selected incorporated places and minor civil divisions, all or selected federally recognized American Indian reservations and off-reservation trust land, and Alaska Native Regional Corporations, to determine the location of legal limits and related information as of January 1 of the survey year. See Consolidated Boundary and Annexation Survey. |
| boundary change | The establishment, relocation, or deletion of a boundary. For legal entities, boundary changes are reported to the Census Bureau in a state, local, or tribal government's response to a Boundary and Annexation Survey, through a periodic or occasional survey to collect boundary information for a specific set of geographic entities, as an adjunct to obtaining other information about an area (such as updated street pattern or address information), or by some other reliable source. For statistical entities, boundary changes are provided in preparation for a specific census in response to the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program or some other specific boundary collection program. The boundaries of legal entities are changed due to legal actions, whereas statistical entities may be changed by appropriate reviewers to reflect population growth or decline, or because of revisions either to visible or legal features used as boundaries or to Census Bureau procedures. A boundary change also can occur due to an error in recording a boundary for one census or survey, and showing it correctly for the next. | |
| Boundary Validation Program | BVP | A Census Bureau followup to the Census 2000 Boundary and Annexation Survey that enabled local and tribal government officials to review and correct (but not update beyond January 1) the January 1, 2000 legal boundaries, and to add and correct city-style addresses at the point where streets and roads intersected the legal boundary. The Census Bureau conducted this program from June through August 2000. |
| building | See structure. | |
| Bureau of Economic Analysis | BEA | Department of Commerce. Provides data on United States economy by preparing, developing, and interpreting national income and product accounts (summarized by the gross domestic product) as well as aggregate measures of international, regional, and state economic activity. |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs | BIA | Department of the Interior. Responsible for the administration of federal programs for federally recognized American Indian tribes and for promoting American Indian self-determination. |
| Bureau of Labor Statistics | BLS | Department of Labor. The principal fact-finding agency for the federal government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. |
| Bureau of the Census | BOC | Department of Commerce. The country's preeminent statistical collection and dissemination agency. It publishes a wide variety of statistical data about people, housing, and the economy of the nation. The Census Bureau conducts approximately 200 annual surveys and conducts the decennial census of the United States population and housing and the quinquennial economic census and census of governments. |
| callback | One or more telephone calls and/or visits that an enumerator makes to a living quarters to obtain information. | |
| callback record page | A page in an address register used to record information about each callback. | |
| canvass | To systematically travel, block by block, every street, road, path, and the like in an assignment area to find and record information about every place where people live, stay, or could live and to update and correct the map of the assigned area. | |
| casing check | See Postal Validation Check. | |
| census | A complete enumeration of a population or the business and commercial establishments, factories, farms, or governments in an area. See decennial census. | |
| Census 2000 | The 22nd decennial census, taken as of April 1, 2000, for the United States, Puerto Rico, and several island areas under U.S. jurisdiction. Officially called the 2000 Census of Population and Housing. See decennial census. | |
| Census 2000 Committee on Statistical Policy | CCSP | A committee composed of policy makers and technicians who provide external review and advice. The group reviews policy matters that affect decisions about statistical methods to be used by the Census Bureau. |
| Census 2000 library | A depository of key Census 2000 documents, using an electronic document tracking system. See Decennial Document Management System and Personal Computer Document Organization and Control System. | |
| Census 2000 Publicity Office | C2PO | Census Bureau. Develops, implements, and coordinates an integrated marketing program for Census 2000, including paid advertising, direct mail, public relations, partnerships, and local outreach. |
| Census 2000 Road Tour | A marketing program in which recreational vehicles staffed by Census Bureau employees and contractors toured the nation to promote Census 2000. | |
| Census 2000 Testing, Experimentation, and Evaluation Program | TXE | As part of each decennial census since 1950, the Census Bureau incorporated a testing, evaluation, and experimental program to evaluate the current census and to facilitate planning for the next decennial census - two important activities that strongly support the Census Bureau’s strategic plan. The objective of the Census 2000 Testing, Experimentation, and Evaluation (TXE) Program was to evaluate Census 2000 and to help guide planning for the 2010 Census. The Census 2000 TXE Program included tests, experiments, and evaluations that were conducted during Census 2000. For program results, go to: http://www.census.gov/pred/www/. |
| Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994 | See Public Law 103-430. | |
| Census Advisory Committee | CAC | The committee's official name is the Commerce Secretary's 2000 Census Advisory Committee. The committee is approved by the Secretary of Commerce and composed of members of the public. It meets two or more times a year to give advice to the Census Bureau. |
| census area | A statistical entity that serves as the equivalent of a county in Alaska. Census areas are delineated cooperatively with the state of Alaska for the purpose of presenting census data for the portion of Alaska that is not within an organized borough, city and borough, or municipality. | |
| census block | An area bounded by visible and/or invisible features shown on Census Bureau maps. A block is the smallest geographic entity for which the Census Bureau collects and tabulates 100-percent decennial census data. See block boundary, block number, collection block, statistical entity, and tabulation block. | |
| Census Bureau | See Bureau of the Census. | |
| Census Bureau map | Any map, in electronic or paper form, produced by the U.S. Census Bureau. Such a map usually displays the boundaries and names and/or codes of the geographic entities that the Census Bureau uses to take a census or survey, or for which the Census Bureau tabulates data, and may include both visible and invisible features, feature names, and other information appropriate to the purpose for which the map was prepared. Some Census Bureau maps display statistical data in various thematic forms. Every Census Bureau map displays a credit note showing that it was produced by the U.S. Census Bureau. May be referred to as "census map" after first usage of the term. | |
| census code | A code assigned by the Census Bureau to identify a specific geographic entity. The Bureau uses census codes for geographic entities for which a Federal Information Processing Standards code either does not exist or is inadequate to identify and/or sequence a type of entity. See Federal Information Processing Standards code, geographic code. | |
| census county division | CCD | A statistical subdivision of a county, established and delineated cooperatively by the Census Bureau and state, local, and tribal officials for data presentation purposes. CCDs have been established in 21 states that do not have minor civil divisions suitable for data presentation; that is, minor civil divisions have not been legally established, do not have a governmental or administrative purpose, have boundaries that are ambiguous or change frequently, and/or generally are not well known to the public. |
| Census Coverage Measurement | CCM | A sample survey used to measure how well
the census covered housing units and persons living in housing units. Sample
areas are selected and the housing units in each sample area are listed
independently of the census. A person interview, independent of any census
results, is conducted at each sample housing unit in order to determine:
(1) who lives at the housing unit at the time of the interview, (2) who
lived at the housing unit on census day, and (3) other places where these
people could have been counted in the census.
The results are matched to the census enumerations throughout the country. In addition, a search for duplicates among the census enumerations and among the persons rostered in the person interview is conducted. A person followup interview is conducted for CCM and census discrepancies, potential duplicates, and for cases where additional information is needed. A similar series of matching and followup operations is conducted for housing units. The results are used to form estimates of person and housing unit net coverage error for the census (i.e., undercount or overcount) and coverage error components (i.e., omissions and erroneous enumerations). |
| 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. | |
| census designated place | CDP | A statistical entity that serves as a statistical counterpart of an incorporated place for the purpose of presenting census data for a concentration of population, housing, and commercial structures that is identifiable by name, but is not within an incorporated place. CDPs usually are delineated cooperatively with state, Puerto Rico, Island Area, local, and tribal government officials, based on Census Bureau guidelines. For Census 2000, CDPs did not have to meet a population threshold to qualify for the tabulation of census data. See comunidad, place, and zona urbana. |
| census division | A grouping of states and the District of Columbia, established by the Census Bureau for the presentation of census data. The nine divisions (East North Central, East South Central, Middle Atlantic, Mountain, New England, Pacific, South Atlantic, West North Central, and West South Central) represent areas that were relatively homogeneous areas when they were established in 1910. The divisions are subdivisions of the four census regions. | |
| Census Edited File | CEF | Staff edits and imputes (item and whole household imputation) the Census Unedited File to create the Census Edited File. Staff edits, imputes (item imputation), and weights the Census Unedited File - Sample to create the Census Edited File - Sample. |
| census field office | CFO | A small temporary office established by the Census Bureau for Census 2000 to perform the address listing field work, conduct local recruiting, and create a local presence. |
| census geography | A collective term referring to the geographic entities used by the Census Bureau for data collection and tabulation. See collection geography, geographic hierarchy, and tabulation geography. | |
| Census Hiring and Employment Check | CHEC | The CHEC system automates the electronic processing of name and fingerprint checks to screen out any potentially unsuitable employees. Designed to conduct background and suitability screening for decennial employees as well as permanent career and current survey personnel, the CHEC system provides a criminal history check on all Census employees and contractors while also verifying employment and education history. This collection of criminal history information and employment verification allows management officials to make timely and informed hiring decisions. Consequently, CHEC will support both the hiring of employees for the decennial census and the ongoing hiring of headquarters, regional and contract personnel. |
| census identification number | A number assigned by the Census Bureau to a housing unit at a specific address or location. This information is kept in the Master Address File. See no identification number. | |
| Census in Schools | A program to distribute instructional materials about the census to school administrators, teachers, and children. | |
| Census Information Center | CIC | A participant in a cooperative program between the Census Bureau and 57 national, regional, and local nonprofit organizations that represent the interests of underserved communities. The centers serve as repositories of census data and reports, making census information and data available to the public and the communities they serve. The CICs use census data in areas such as program planning, advocacy needs assessment, defining service areas, public policy development, developing new business enterprises, and conducting race/ethnic-related research. |
| Census Integration Group | CIG | An inter-divisional team responsible for 2010 Census program integration. The team will serve as the change control board. In addition, they will facilitate the resolution of issues that were identified by the OITs, ISTs, and IPTs. Finally, the team will serve as a liaison between the Decennial Leadership Group and OITs, ISTs, and IPTs. |
| census map | See Census Bureau map. | |
| Census Map Preview | CMP | A Census 2000 program that gave local and tribal government officials an early opportunity (1996-1997) to review and update the features shown on the Census Bureau maps of their areas. |
| Census Monitoring Board | Established by Public Law 105-119, the function of the board was "to observe and monitor all aspects of the preparation and implementation of Census 2000 (including all dress rehearsals and other simulations of a census in preparation therefor)." By law, the board ceased to exist on September 30, 2001. | |
| Census of Population and Housing reports | CPH | A series of 1990 census reports containing tables that report population and housing data. |
| Census Operational Managers | COM | Census Bureau. A steering group responsible for designing and conducting efficient operations consistent with Census 2000 policies, goals, objectives, and strategies. This group replaced the 1990 Program Steering Committees. |
| census region | A grouping of states and the District of Columbia, established by the Census Bureau for the presentation of census data. Each region (Midwest, Northeast, South, and West) is subdivided into census divisions. | |
| census statistical areas committee | CSAC | For the 1990 and prior censuses, a committee established by local government officials and other interested individuals to identify, in cooperation with the Census Bureau, the census tracts, block groups, census designated places, and other statistical entities for the area it served. |
| census statistical areas key person | CSAKP | For the 1990 and prior censuses, a person designated by a census statistical areas committee to act as its contact person with the Census Bureau. |
| census subarea | A statistical subdivision of a borough, census area (county equivalent), or other entity that is the statistical equivalent of a county in Alaska. Census subareas are delineated cooperatively by the state of Alaska and the Census Bureau. | |
| census tract | A small, relatively permanent statistical subdivision of a county or statistically equivalent entity, delineated for data presentation purposes by a local group of census data users or the geographic staff of a regional census center in accordance with Census Bureau guidelines. Designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions at the time they are established, census tracts generally contain between 1,000 and 8,000 people, with an optimum size of 4,000 people. Census tract boundaries are delineated with the intention of being stable over many decades, so they generally follow relatively permanent visible features. However, they may follow governmental unit boundaries and other invisible features in some instances; the boundary of a state or county (or statistically equivalent entity) is always a census tract boundary. See block numbering area, tribal census tract. | |
| census tract number | A 4-digit basic number, followed by an optional 2-digit decimal suffix, used to identify a census tract uniquely within a county or statistically equivalent entity. For Census 2000, census tract numbers ranged from 0001 to 9999, with 9400 to 9499 reserved for census tracts related to federally recognized American Indian reservations and off-reservation trust land–primarily reservations and trust land that cross county lines. | |
| Census Tract Street Index | CTSI | An extract of the TIGER® File, made available to the public during the 1990s to enable users to relate a city-style address to a 1990 census tract and current Congressional district. |
| Census Unedited File | CUF | The Decennial Response File, the file containing all responses to Census 2000, is processed using the Primary Selection Algorithm. From this file, two files are created: the Census Unedited File, which contains the individual responses to the short-form questionnaires, and the Census Unedited File - Sample, which contains the individual responses to the long- form questionnaires. The long form, received by approximately one in six households nationwide, included the short-form questionnaire items and additional questions. The CUF is used to generate apportionment data as well as related "raw," or unedited, census data. |
| central city | In a metropolitan area (MA), the largest place and, in some areas, one or more additional places that meet official standards issued by the federal Office of Management and Budget. If a place extends beyond an MA, only the portion within the MA is a central city. A few primary metropolitan statistical areas do not have a central city. | |
| central place | In an urban area (urbanized area or urban cluster), the largest place and, in some areas, one or more additional places that meet specific Census Bureau criteria. If a place is identified as an extended place, only the portion within the urban area represents the central place. For an urban area that does not contain an incorporated or census designated place, there is no central place, and the title of the urbanized area or urban cluster uses the name of a minor civil division, or a local place name recognized by the Board on Geographic Names and recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey. | |
| check-in | An operation that records a census response into a computer database. Every type of response (mailed-in questionnaire, telephone response, Internet response, or enumerator interview response) is checked in at a data capture center. See check-in rate. | |
| check-in rate | Questionnaires checked in at the four data capture centers represented the initial step for processing responses to Census 2000. Check-in at the data capture centers was an operation designed to record receipt of census questionnaires into a database for control and workflow management. It provided an estimate of the scanning workload. The check-in count of questionnaires included all mailed-in questionnaires, including responses from mailout/mailback, update/leave, and the Be Counted Program, and enumerator interview responses, including list/enumerate, update/enumerate, and Nonresponse Followup. The check-in count also included questionnaires returned as undeliverable-as-addressed by the U.S. Postal Service. Some questionnaires included in check-in may be duplicate forms from the same household, blank forms, and the like; because questionnaires from all of these sources constitute the questionnaire scanning workload, the Census Bureau does not reduce the check-in count by the number of unusable questionnaires. | |
| city | A type of incorporated place in all states and the District of Columbia. In Virginia, all cities are not part of any county, and the Census Bureau treats them as county equivalents as well as places for purposes of data presentation; there also is one such independent city in each of three states: Maryland, Missouri, and Nevada. In 23 states and the District of Columbia, some or all cities are not part of any minor civil division, and the Census Bureau treats them as county subdivisions as well as places for purposes of data presentation. In agreement with the state of Hawaii, the Census Bureau does not recognize the city of Honolulu for presentation of decennial census data. See consolidated city, county equivalent, county subdivision, governmental unit, incorporated place, independent city, and independent place. | |
| city and borough | A legally established geographic entity in Alaska. The Census Bureau treats a city and borough as equivalent to a county for data presentation purposes. The Bureau also treats a city and borough as an incorporated place in Alaska. This designation is new for Census 2000. | |
| city delivery area | An area in which post offices deliver mail to addresses consisting of a house number and street name and that consists of "city delivery routes" as designated by the U.S. Postal Service. Some homes and establishments in a city delivery area may choose to use a post office/drawer or general delivery for their mail. See city-style address, nondelivery area, and rural delivery area. | |
| city-style address | An address that consists of a house number and street or road name; for example, 201 Main Street. The address may or may not be used for the delivery of mail, and may include apartment numbers/designations or similar identifiers. See address, basic street address, house-number-and-street-name address, mailing address, and noncity-style address. | |
| coefficient of variation | CV | The ratio of the standard error (square root of the variance) to the value being estimated, usually expressed in terms of a percentage (also known as the relative standard deviation). The lower the CV, the higher the relative reliability of the estimate. |
| collection block | A physical block enumerated as a single geographic area, regardless of any legal or statistical boundaries passing through it. (Note: State, county, American Indian area, and military base boundaries, as recorded in the TIGER® database at the time of assigning numbers to collection blocks, are always block boundaries.) See block number, census block, and tabulation block. | |
| collection geography | The geographic entities used by the Census Bureau for taking a census. For Census 2000, the combination of census field office (CFO), early-opening local census office (ELCO), or local census office (LCO)/assignment area (AA)/collection block identified a unique geographic area. See tabulation geography. | |
| Commerce Administrative Management System | CAMS | A system integrating financial and related subsystems for census management and administration. |
| Commerce Business Daily | CBD | A newspaper, published by the Department of Commerce, that lists all procurement notices and awards by the federal government. |
| commercial structure | A building used principally for business purposes. It may contain one or more living quarters. | |
| commercially available off-the- shelf software | COTS | Software that may be purchased and implemented for a particular application with minimal or no modification required. |
| commonwealth | The legal designation for four states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia), Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The Census Bureau does not use this term in presenting data. | |
| Community Address Updating System | CAUS | A post-Census 2000 Census Bureau program that provides a systematic methodology for enhancement and update of address and street/road information in areas that the Census Bureau has identified as experiencing major new development. This is information that needs to be added to the TIGER® database and the Master Address File after Census 2000, but the information is either not available from or appears to be incomplete in the U.S. Postal Service's Delivery Sequence File. The Census Bureau issues an invitation to state, local, and tribal governments to encourage participation in the Local Update of Census Addresses program for their area. Where no participation is forthcoming, the CAUS prioritizes which areas should be assigned for field visits by regional office staff. CAUS also is referred to as the American Community Survey Coverage Program. See Automated Listing and Mapping Instrument, Demographic Area Address Listing, and Group Quarters Automated Instrument for Listing. |
| compact disk - read only memory | CD-ROM | An optical disk created by a mastering process and used for storing large amounts of data. Unlike standard computer disks and diskettes, CD-ROMs can be used only to read stored data, not to update or change the content. |
| Complete Count Committee | CCC | A volunteer committee established by local, tribal, and sometimes state governments 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 were charged with developing and implementing a Census 2000 outreach, promotion, recruiting, and enumeration assistance plan of action designed to target and address the needs of their communities. |
| computer assisted personal interview | CAPI | A method of data collection in which the interviewer asks questions displayed on a laptop computer screen and enters the answers directly into a computer. |
| Computer Assisted Survey Research Office | CASRO | Census Bureau. Provides automation and telecommunication technologies to improve the collection, processing, and dissemination of data. |
| computer assisted telephone interview | CATI | A method of data collection using telephone interviews in which the questions to be asked are displayed on a computer screen and responses are entered directly into a computer. As a component of Telephone Questionnaire Assistance, a census employee offered to conduct a CATI and take responses over the telephone if it was too late to mail a questionnaire to the household or when requested by the caller in certain situations. Telephone interviews could be conducted only for households receiving a short-form questionnaire. |
| Computer Services Division | CSvD | Census Bureau. Operates and manages the electronic computers and related ancillary equipment of the Census Bureau; plans and provides the maintenance of this equipment at required hardware performance levels. |
| comunidad | A census designated place in Puerto Rico that is not related to a municipio's seat of government. See census designated place and zona urbana. | |
| Concept of Operations | CONOPS | The U.S. Department of Commerce's acquisition process. |
| confidentiality | The guarantee made by law (Title 13, United States Code) to individuals who provide census information, ensuring nondisclosure of that information to others. See Privacy Act and special sworn status individual. | |
| confidentiality edit | The name for the Census 2000 disclosure avoidance procedure, in which data for one person or household is switched with that of another person or household in order to maintain data confidentiality. | |
| Congressional Affairs Office | CAO | Census Bureau. Acts as a liaison between the Congress and the Census Bureau. |
| Congressional district | CD | One of 435 areas established by law for the election of people to the U.S. House of Representatives. Each CD is to be as equal in population to all other CDs in the state as practicable, based on the decennial census counts. |
| Congressional District Data Summary Files | Data files generated for Congressional districts from the decennial census data and made available to the public. They contain the same types of data as the Hundred Percent Summary Files and Sample Data Summary Files. | |
| Consolidated Boundary and Annexation Survey | C-BAS | Participation in the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) by a single governmental unit (GU) for all or some of the GUs located within it; for example, a county may review and update the boundaries for all or some of the incorporated places and/or minor civil divisions located within it. The reviewing GU must have the consent of the other GUs, which are given the opportunity to review and approve their boundaries after the Census Bureau enters the information into the TIGER® database. See Boundary and Annexation Survey and Boundary Validation Program. |
| consolidated city | A type of incorporated place that contains one or more other incorporated places that continue to function as separate governmental units within a consolidated government. See consolidated government, incorporated place, and legal entity. | |
| consolidated government | A governmental unit created when the functions of two or more types of governmental units are merged to form a single, common government; for example, a consolidated city-county government. | |
| consolidated metropolitan statistical area | CMSA | A geographic entity designated by the federal Office of Management and Budget for use by federal statistical agencies. An area becomes a CMSA if it qualifies as a metropolitan area, has a census population of one million or more, has component parts that qualify as primary metropolitan statistical areas based on official standards, and local opinion favors the designation. CMSAs consist of whole counties except for the New England states, where they consist of county subdivisions (primarily cities and towns). See central city and statistical entity. |
| content edit | An operation that includes a review of questionnaires for missed answers or multiple entries. The edits are designed to improve data quality and reduce item nonresponse. | |
| continuation form | A questionnaire used if there were seven or more people in a household. Each continuation form contained the same questions as the original short-form questionnaire for up to six additional household members. | |
| continuing resolution | Legislation enacted by the Congress to provide budget authority for specific ongoing activities when the regular fiscal year appropriation for such activities has not been enacted by the beginning of the fiscal year. The continuing resolution usually specifies a maximum rate at which an agency may incur obligations, based on the rate of the prior year, the President's budget request, or an appropriation bill passed by either or both houses of Congress. | |
| Continuity of Operations Plan | COOP | A method of providing response and disaster recovery plans for each data capture center. |
| Continuous Measurement System | A reengineering of the method for collecting the housing and socioeconomic data, traditionally collected in the decennial census, to provide data every year instead of once in ten years. This system includes a large monthly survey–the American Community Survey–and estimates through the use of administrative records in statistical models. It is in a developmental stage that started in 1996. | |
| conventional census | See list/enumerate. | |
| Cooperative Research and Development Agreement | CRADA | An agreement between the Census Bureau and one or more private companies for the purpose of improving databases and products for the benefit of both the Census Bureau and the company (ies). |
| Correspondence Management Staff | CMS | Census Bureau. Responsible for controlling and processing of incoming and outgoing correspondence directed to or signed by the Director or Deputy Director of the Census Bureau or the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, or an Assistant Secretary, or Under Secretary of the Department of Commerce. |
| Cost and Progress | C&P | C&P refers to both the system and the reports generated by the system. The C&P System is a component of the Management Information System that reports on the cost and progress of address list development and data collection, capture, processing, and dissemination for Census 2000. See Executive Information System, Management Information System, and Master Activity Schedule. |
| Count Question Resolution | CQR | A process whereby state, local, and tribal government officials could ask the Census Bureau to verify the accuracy of the legal boundaries used for Census 2000, the allocation of living quarters and their residents in relation to those boundaries, and the count of people recorded by the Census Bureau for specific living quarters. |
| county | The primary legal division of every state except Alaska and Louisiana. A number of geographic entities are not legally designated as a county, but are recognized by the Census Bureau as equivalent to a county for data presentation purposes. These include the boroughs, city and boroughs, municipality, and census areas in Alaska; parishes in Louisiana; and cities that are independent of any county (independent cities) in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia. They also include the municipios in Puerto Rico, districts and islands in American Samoa, municipalities in the Northern Mariana Islands, and islands in the Virgin Islands of the United States. Because they contain no primary legal divisions, the Census Bureau treats the District of Columbia and Guam each as equivalent to a county (as well as equivalent to a state) for data presentation purposes. In American Samoa, a county is a minor civil division. | |
| county equivalent | See county. | |
| county partition | See partition. | |
| county subdivision | A legal or statistical division of a county recognized by the Census Bureau for data presentation. See barrio, barrio-pueblo, borough, census county division, census subarea, city, legal entity, minor civil division, statistical entity, town, township, unorganized territory, and village. | |
| Coverage Edit Followup | CEFU | A telephone operation in which telephone agents contracted by the Census Bureau called households whose census responses failed population count discrepancies and large household edits. These edits were performed only for mailback and Internet responses. An example of a count discrepancy is a difference between the number of people reported in the household and the number of people for whom census information was provided on the questionnaire. This edit includes the Large Household Followup. |
| Coverage Improvement Followup | CIFU | A census field operation during which addresses previously identified as vacant or previously deleted from the Master Address File were verified to be sure that their "vacant" or "deleted" status was correct. If the unit was occupied on Census Day, a completed questionnaire was obtained. Also enumerated in CIFU were addresses identified by governmental units for the New Construction program, late-added addresses identified during update/leave and through update partnership efforts with the U.S. Postal Service, and addresses for which mail return questionnaires were lost or returned blank. Field staff visited these addresses to determine the status of each address as of Census Day. If the housing unit was occupied on Census Day, enumerators compledted a questionnaire for the address. |
| crew leader | CL | The immediate supervisor of a team of listers, enumerators, or other field staff for a decennial census. See crew leader assistant, crew leader district, and field operations supervisor. |
| crew leader assistant | CLA | For some field operations, a crew leader may be assigned one or more CLAs from the pool of enumerators, to perform specific crew leader functions. |
| crew leader district | CLD | The area assigned to a crew leader, formed by grouping together a number of enumerator assignment areas. |
| crews of vessels | The shipboard populations of U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and merchant marine vessels. For geographic purposes, the population of each ship is assigned to a census tract and census block that includes the ship's home port (Navy, Coast Guard) or that contains the facility, pier, or dock associated with the ship. | |
| Customer Liaison Office | CLO | Census Bureau. The point of contact between the Census Bureau and its external customers, both public and private. The external customers include government organizations, such as state data centers, business and industry data centers, census information centers, governors' liaisons for Census 2000, and tribal governmental leaders, and nongovernment entities, such as national labor unions and national nonprofit organizations. |
| dangerous settlement | A compound where census staff encounters or is aware of dangerous situations, such as militia groups. The listers or enumerators are instructed to note the living quarters as a special place and to not attempt to interview the residents. Though listed as a special place, special place operations are not conducted at these living quarters. Procedures for listing and enumerating these settlements include interviewing the local postmaster and public officials. | |
| Data Access and Dissemination System | DADS | See American FactFinder. |
| data capture | The process by which respondent information is recorded from the census questionnaires and converted and stored in a computer-readable format. Data capture for Census 2000 was performed in the Census Bureau's data capture centers. | |
| Data Capture Audit and Resolution | DCAR | An edit and review of the records of responses. An edit compares a derived count of persons to the questionnaire count. Edit failures may be resolved inhouse or referred to Coverage Edit Followup. |
| data capture center | DCC | A facility that checked in questionnaires, created images of all questionnaire pages, and converted responses to computer-readable format for Census 2000. The DCCs also performed other computer processing activities, including automated questionnaire edits, workflow management, and data storage. There is one permanent DCC, the National Processing Center. For Census 2000, the Census Bureau established three temporary DCCs, which were operated by a private contractor through the Data Capture Services Contract; these DCCs were located in Baltimore, Phoenix, and Pomona (CA). Referred to as a processing office for the 1990 census. |
| Data Capture Management Information System | DMIS | A computerized management information system developed for use in the data capture centers. It provided automated tools to facilitate and support the management of the centers. |
| Data Capture Services Contract | DCSC | The contract that provided the facilities for data capture center operations and services. |
| Data Capture System 2000 | DCS 2000 | The data capture system used to capture information from census forms. This system incorporated the following activities: processing more than 120 million incoming forms; digitally capturing and processing billions of bits of information on the forms; automatically converting the forms' images to text-based data; and editing/repairing data that the system was unable to decipher automatically. |
| Data Preparation Division | DPD | See National Processing Center. |
| Data Stewardship Executive Policy Committee | DSEP (Committee) | A Census Bureau committee established in 2001 to assure that the Census Bureau can effectively collect and use data about the nation's people and economy while fully meeting the Census Bureau's legal and ethical obligations to respondents to respect privacy and protect confidentiality. This includes fully meeting the legal, ethical, and reporting obligations required by the Census Act, the Privacy Act, and other applicable statutes, including those of governmental and other suppliers of data to the Census Bureau. The Stewardship Committee, consisting of members of the Census Bureau's Executive Staff, serves as the Census Bureau's focal point for decision-making and communication on policy issues releated to privacy, security, confidentiality, and administrative records. |
| Decennial Applicant Name Check | DANC | An automated system used to screen all applicants' backgrounds for criminal histories to facilitate the selection, hiring, promotion, and payrolling of qualified and suitable applicants for the conduct of Census 2000. |
| Decennial Applicant, Personnel, and Payroll System | DAPPS | DAPPS is a fully integrated human resources and payroll system that meets financial and regulatory reporting requirements for temporary decennial field staff. This web-based enterprise-wide system supports the recruiting and applicant process, hiring of employees, processing personnel actions, paying employees, providing reports and outputs, and maintaining historical data; that is, it tracks the careers of temporary decennial field employees from recruitment to background check to payroll. |
| 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 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 population was taken in 1790. The Census Bureau first conducted the census of housing in 1940. | |
| Decennial Cost Model | DCM | The primary tool for documenting and analyzing budgetary resources needed to support program requirements for Census 2000. It contains assumptions and parameters used to describe and analyze the budget components. |
| Decennial Division Chiefs Steering Committee | DDCSC | Census Bureau. Consists of the various chiefs of the Census Bureau's divisions and offices, including the Census Operational Managers. |
| Decennial Document Management System | DDMS | An electronic library documenting the operations of Census 2000 using Personal Computer Document Organization and Control System software. The files are maintained by Decennial Communications, Decennial Management Division. |
| decennial field interface | DFI | The Census Bureau's control system for field operations for the dress rehearsal and Census 2000. It provided a framework for all software systems used in data collection-related control and tracking activities of the regional census centers, census field offices, early-opening local census offices, and local census offices. It included, among others, the operations control, payroll and personnel, map production, and management information systems. See Operations Control System 2000. |
| Decennial Management Division | DMD | Census Bureau. The DMD directs and monitors the decennial census. It coordinates and provides project management for all census operations; maintains the Cost Model and the Executive Information System, which includes the Master Activity Schedule and the Cost and Progress Reporting System; manages the decennial budget; manages decennial communications, issue resolution/change control, and requirements documentation; and directs development of the census plan. |
| Decennial Master Address File | DMAF | An extract of the Master Address File that the Census Bureau used, with added fields, to control and track the operations and programs of Census 2000. The DMAF supported long-form sampling, questionnaire mailout, response check-in, tracking and reporting, and field enumeration operations. For example, census staff used the DMAF to create address files for questionnaire labeling and delivery and for the check-in of questionnaires and enumerator interview form returns. The universes for field enumeration operations, notably Nonresponse Followup and Coverage Improvement Followup, were extracted from the DMAF. The Census Bureau periodically updated the DMAF with address additions, deletions, and corrections from census and other operations. |
| Decennial Outlook Report | A monthly report that presented information about the Census 2000 budget, operations, procurements, systems, personnel, and facilities. | |
| Decennial Response File | DRF | A file that contains every response to the census from all sources. The Primary Selection Algorithm was applied to this file to unduplicate people from multiple returns for a housing unit and to determine the housing unit record and the people to include at the housing unit. The DRF was then combined with the Decennial Master Address File to create the Census Unedited File. |
| Decennial Response Integration System | DRIS | To help accomplish the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau requires the Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS) contractor to design, build, test, deploy, implement, operate, maintain, secure, and then dispose of the systems, infrastructure, staffing, procedures, and facilities needed to: (1) provide assistance to the public through the telephone; (2) receive, capture, and standardize census data provided by respondents via paper census forms and telephone agents; and (3) organize and standardize data collected in field operations via hand-held computers (HHCs). While the DRIS Contractor must standardize and organize response data from the HHCs, the DRIS contract does not include providing the systems or staffing used for the field operations. The Census Bureau awarded the DRIS contract to Lockheed Martin in October 2005. |
| Decennial Statistical Studies Division | DSSD | Census Bureau. Develops mathematical and statistical techniques for the design and conduct of a census. |
| Decennial Systems and Contracts Management Office | DSCMO | Census Bureau. Develops and manages major Census 2000 contracts to process Census 2000 data and disseminate data to the public. |
| Decennial Systems Architecture Team | DSAT | This team is responsible for facilitating communication among the 2010 Census system providers. In addition the team facilitates the documentation of the system architecture and detailed description of the system interfaces. |
| Decision Memoranda Series | A set of memoranda that document major policy and design decisions as well as major changes to the Census 2000 operational plans. They are issued by the Issue Resolution/Change Control Board, the Census Operational Managers, and the executive staff. | |
| delete | The status for an address in the Master Address File that does not qualify as a living quarters. | |
| Delivery Sequence File | DSF | A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) computer file containing all mailing addresses serviced by the USPS. The USPS continuously updates the DSF as its letter carriers identify addresses for new delivery points and changes in the status of existing addresses. The Census Bureau uses the DSF as a source for maintaining and updating its Master Address File. |
| demographic analysis | DA | An independent, macro-level approach to validate the census results. Estimates using demographic analysis are based on aggregate sets of administrative data including birth and death records, immigration statistics, and Medicare data. |
| Demographic Area Address Listing | DAAL | A post-Census 2000 program that coordinates various operations related to the review and automated update of the geographic content of the TIGER® database and the addresses in the Master Address File; the results of the reviews and updates are recorded using laptop computers. See Automated Listing and Mapping Instrument, Community Address Updating System, Group Quarters Automated Instrument for Listing. |
| Demographic Profile | Five tables that provide Census 2000 population and housing characteristics for geographic entities. | |
| Demographic Statistical Methods Division | DSMD | Census Bureau. Develops mathematical and statistical techniques for the design and conduct of demographic sample surveys. |
| Demographic Surveys Division | DSD | Census Bureau. Performs a wide range of demographic surveys, including the American Community Survey. |
| Department of Commerce | DOC | U.S. Government. Promotes job creation, economic growth, sustainable development, and improved living standards for all Americans. The Department of Commerce includes the Bureau of Export Administration, Economic Development Administration, International Trade Administration, Patent and Trademark Office, Minority Business Development Agency, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Economics and Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Technical Information Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the various agencies NOAA oversees. |
| Department of Defense | DOD | U.S. Gover |