Objective 1.3: New Methods
Develop, prototype, test, and integrate new and streamlined methods for the 2010 Census, taking advantage of the American
Community Survey, the enhanced MAF/TIGER, and the results of Census 2000
Other Information:
An improved 2010 Census depends on the success of the American Community Survey and the enhanced MAF/TIGER that, taken together,
will reduce risk, improve coverage, and contain costs. The early 2010 planning, developing, prototyping, and testing will
use the enhanced MAF/TIGER, lessons learned from Census 2000, and a multiyear series of operational tests, culminating in
a dress rehearsal in 2008. Ultimately, the success of the 2010 Census will be measured by it ability to meet legal deadlines,
maintain or improve coverage for all population groups and geographic levels, contain costs, and mitigate the risk of operational
failure. To do these things successfully, radically new and different procedures must be fully tested under census-like conditions,
and refined well in advance of Census Day. This, and the significantly increased use of automation planned for 2010, will
require a sustained, multiyear effort of integrated planning, development, testing, revising, and retesting of all the many
procedures and information technology needed to complete a successful census. This in turn will require sustained program
and budget support from the administration and the congress. The primary indicators of progress towards that ultimate goal
will be the Census Bureau’s ability to design, conduct, and evaluate its research and development efforts, and its ability
to design, develop, test, and deploy the information technology systems needed to conduct the program in 2010. Strategies
and means: * Test new methodologies and technologies aimed at improving the 2010 Census. * Modify the 2010 Census plan based
on test results. * Continue to design a systems architecture for the 2010 Census. * Establish an integrated communications
plan, including a plan for partnership activities and a process for stakeholder involvement, especially the continued involvement
of the advisory committees and state, local, and tribal governments. Measuring performance: * Number of planned research questions
that are answered in each test. * Completion of the baseline system architecture for 2010.
Indicator(s):
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