Quirky questions put us in focus - Survey is seen as the best way to collect data on who we are.

Amy Dorsett
San Antonio Express-News 
June 4, 2002

Loaded with questions both personal and banal, the U.S. Census is as predictable as death and taxes. 

Conducted every 10 years since 1790, the census gives researchers a snapshot of America, from where we live to where we work to how much money we bring home. 

It's the oldest continuous census in the world, and there's nothing like it for identifying coast-to-coast trends. 

"The census is really our best measure of who we are and how we're doing," said Steve Murdock, state demographer for Texas and a professor at Texas A&M University. "No other data source comes close to providing the same details." 

The questionnaire, mandated by the Constitution, is used for a variety of official government purposes, such as apportioning seats in Congress. 

Marital rates, racial diversification and income levels also are tracked. 

But beyond the sensibility of the census are its quirks. 

When detailed results from the 2000 census for Texas were released a few weeks ago, they revealed that eight households in Bexar County still use coal as heating fuel. 

Attempts to track down any of those users or a supplier of household coal failed. 

Also in 2000, 15,225 - or 2.5 percent - of Bexar County respondents indicated they walked to work, while 460,413 - or 75.7 percent - drove alone. 

Mean travel time to work for the county was a flat 24 minutes. 

Advances in technology also can be tracked through the census. 

In 1930, a question about radio ownership appeared. 

By 1950, a question was added regarding who owned a television set. 

Then, it was a yes or no question, but by 1960 it had changed to ask the number of sets owned. 

Also in 1960, the census started asking about ownership of washers and dryers, air-conditioning units, home freezers and telephone access. In 1970, dishwasher ownership was included. 

Commute time was first checked in 1980, and in 1990, respondents were asked what time they left for work. 

The information is routinely used by the private sector for planning and marketing. 

"There are lots of side benefits," said Dave Pemberton, historian for the U.S. Census Bureau. "In order to plan for the future, a modern government needs to know something about the distribution of the population." 

Businesses looking to open or relocate also depend on census information. 

"You can determine if there's a market for your goods where you want to locate," Murdock said. 

Census questions - always factual, never opinions - have been approved by Congress, and forms through the years have ballooned. 

"The reason the questions are there is primarily there is some law or regulation that requires them to be collected," Pemberton said. "The census is the most practical way to do it." 

For all the questions that are asked, there are dozens more that aren't. 

While vehicle ownership and number of rooms in a house are studied, religious affiliation and pet ownership are not. 

"In essence, if it isn't required by statute, regulation or Constitution, it isn't asked," Pemberton said. "The census form is detailed enough as it is." 

There are standard census questions that many respondents view as no one's business. 

Income tops that list. 

Dan Weinberg, chief of the housing and household economic statistics division of the Census Bureau, said that another sensitive topic is a question that asks when people leave for work, because respondents are afraid the information will get out and be used by burglars. 

Confidentiality, Weinberg reassured, is guaranteed. 

"We have a very good response rate on simpler, non-sensitive questions, such as sex and race," he said. "Although 'human race' is a very common response." 

Census takers are known to be persistent in getting people to respond to the surveys, Weinberg said. 

As a last resort, they'll talk to neighbors, landlords, even postal carriers to find out basic information. 

For what grief the census doles out, it repays with glimpses of Americana. 

"We have a pretty good picture of what's going on," Weinberg said. "The most important role is comparison across localities. A state can use it for planning; San Antonio can look at its neighborhoods." 

After 70 years, actual census forms are released to the public and can be studied, especially helpful for genealogy research. 

The forms also can be used to verify a birth date in circumstances where a birth certificate wasn't issued. 

Through the years, trends from population diversification to the changing roles for women have been tracked, Murdock said. 

"We are arguably the best census in the world, in terms of coverage and response rates," he said.