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Census (U.S.): Census Bureau
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The Census of Agriculture is a complete accounting of United States agricultural production, farms, farm production, crops, livestock, poultry and more. Since 1982, it has been conducted every five years in years ending in "2" and "7." The Census was carried out under the authority of the U.S. Bureau of the Census until 1997. The 1997 Appropriations Act transferred the responsibility from the Bureau of the Census to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The 1997 Census of Agriculture was the first census conducted by Department of Agriculture. The most recent census was conducted in 2002; data releases will begin in spring of 2004.
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By May 1987, the Census Bureau had determined that the 1990 census could be adjusted for undercounting by using a technique called a post-enumeration survey (PES). The PES would allow the census to be checked for accuracy by sending census takers back to a given number of households that would be representative of the entire U.S. population and comparing the information gathered with the initial head count. If discrepancies arose, the bureau could make corrections and project them to neighborhoods with similar demographic characteristics. But in October 1987, officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), which oversees the Census Bureau, had decided against making any statistical adjustment to the 1990 census. As a result, in 1988, New York, Los Angeles, and several other cities, as well as a number of states and organizations, brought suit in federal district court. They claimed that the secretary's decision not to adjust the 1990 census violated their right to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution and asked the court to enjoin the census.
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The first U.S. Census was conducted in 1790 by Federal marshals. Census-takers went door-to-door and recorded the number of people in each household, along with the name of the head of the household. Slaves were enumerated, but for apportionment purposes each counted as only three-fifths of a citizen. American Indians being neither taxed nor considered during apportionment were not counted in the census. The first census counted 3.9 million people, less than half the population of New York City in 2000; the 2000 census counted over 281 million people. In 1902, Congress established the Census Bureau as a permanent Federal agency.
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"A key unit of Census geography is the Census Tract. Every Metropolitan Area or Urbanized Area in the United States is completely divided into Tracts. The smallest area of Census geography is the Census Block. ...a Block is usually a quadrangle bounded by four streets ..." Definitions of other terms used in the Census are located on the Bureau of the Census web site in Definitions of Subject Characteristics--Understanding the Census
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The Census Bureau serves as an institutional source of data about the United States’ people and economy. The goal of the Census Bureau is to provide the best mix of timeliness, relevancy, quality, and cost for the data collected and services provided. The first census, taken in 1790 by U.S. marshals on horseback, counted 3.9 million inhabitants. Today, the census counts more than 250 million U.S. inhabitants.
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Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta and Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt announced the release of Census 2000 final response rates for the nation, counties, cities and census tracts at a news briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the National Press Club. The final rates update the initial response rates posted on the Internet last April. They show how many housing units returned a census questionnaire by mail, phone, Internet or via a "Be Counted" form obtained at a community center.
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