Reengineering the 2010 Census

At the request of the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Research Council'sCommittee on National Statistics established the Panel on Research on FutureCensus Methods to review the early planning process for the 2010 census. This newreport documents the panel's strong support for the major aims of the CensusBureau's emerging plan for 2010. At the same time, it notes the considerable challengesthat must be overcome if the bureau's innovations are to be successful. Thepanel agrees with the Census Bureau that implementation of the AmericanCommunity Survey and, with it, the separation of the long form from the censusprocess are excellent concepts. Moreover, it concurs that the critically importantMaster Address File and TIGER geographic systems are in dire need of comprehensiveupdating and that new technologies have the potential to improve the accuracyof the count. The report identifies the risks and rewards of these and other componentsof the Census Bureau's plan. The report emphasizes the need for the bureau tolink its research and evaluation efforts much more closely to operational planningand the importance of funding for a comprehensive and rigorous testing programbefore 2010.