Why Is There So Much Mail From the Census?

[DancingBear]

Why couldn't they put a website and code on the first mailing so that I could fill it out online and not need the form mailed, the second reminder mailed, mailing back the form, scanning and OCRing the form I sent back?

Maybe next time.

Q. Can I complete the census online? A. For the 2010 Census, questionnaires are not available online. In September 2008, a Census Bureau internet data collection team completed a thorough analysis of implementing an internet reporting option. From a technical perspective, they found using the internet was feasible; however, without time to fully test the entire system, security concerns led the Census Bureau to decide to not offer the 2010 Census questionnaire online. However, the Census Bureau plans to introduce an internet data collection option in the 2020 Census.

http://2010.census.gov/campus/pdf/FAQ_CensusOnCampus.pdf

 

[blana]

ARGH! And we still haven't gotten the durn form yet. They apparently don't have our house "on the grid".

 

[blana]

When are we supposed to mail these back by?
Also, I have received to (our complex can go by 2 different addresses)
So I filled one out and on the other I attached a post it saying
Please refer to the form addressed to (our address here) as we received 2 forms. Should I include any other info?

No good answer for that one, but in the 2000 census, we got 3 or 4 different forms and did what you did with the extras. We then got visited by the census worker, one time for each extra census form.... They would not believe that we had already been counted .

 

[LoraJ]

I just called some census number to request a form and they wanted my census ID number which I do not have since I have not received a thing so they can't send me a survey.

 

[Took]

I saw an interview with the person that heads the Census. He said that all the mailings actually save money because they increase the number of responses by a significant percentage. Every household that does not respond has to be visited in person (perhaps multiple times to catch someone at home). They have to pay people to do the home visits so the mailings are more cost effective.

Yup. THe home visits are the expensive part. A postcard on recycled paper costs virtually nothing. I think the DISboards folks are much more "heads up" than the average person. We don't need all the notifications but we ARE planners and thinkers.

 

[FireDancer]

Don't get me started on how much the banks spend (and charge us for, through various means) to fight fraud and/or pay the costs of fraud.

Very little actually. I am in charge of our online products and the additional insurance cost for offering the product isn't much. A well implemented online solution is very secure. It is the customer who usually causes their own problems with weak password or using public computers as opposed to sites being hacked.

 

[bicker]

I'm the lead developer for our online products, and I guess your company and my company have radically different understandings about what is a lot of money versus what is "very little" money.

 

[FireDancer]

The product as a whole (onilne banking, bill payment, eStatements, etc) isn't cheap but the offset in overhead more then makes up for it.

On the fraud side we pay very little additional premium to cover online fraud and losses in addition to brick and mortar fraud and losses. We have yet to have a single cent of loss through fraud online but the same can't be said for in-branch.

 

[mykidsand_i]

If people can do their online banking, taxes, credit card applications, check their credit scores and make payments for almost everything that can be purchased- then we should at LEAST get the option to do this census online.

Think about the minimal info. we had to give for the census- our names, date of birth, how many people live in our house, what their ages are. Online banking, doing taxes online- all that stuff gives twice the amount of info. about us ANNNNNDDD it's more 'secure info.' that we don't want others to know about.

AND half of the mail could be cut, because they'd let everyone do it online and THEN, send out a reminder or the actual paper version to the people who didn't do it yet.

I know that there are 'security risks' to everything online- but for ANYONE who's made a purchase on line- done taxes online or anything like that this is not too difficult to do.

I'm going to bet the next census will be done with an OPTION to do it online.

They could send out a 'hey the census is needing to be done' card with a pin number on it.

Last month in our town- there were a group of 3 guys/teens going around stealing out of people's mail boxes- so to me the 'mail box being safe' is a bunch of crap as well.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm not as bothered about the redundant mailings as my wife. I was really annoyed when they said on Marketplace (a financial show on public radio) that the census was a sponsor. What the heck is the purpose of that? Are Marketplace listeners traditionally undercounted? Will knowing that the census sponsored the show get more people to fill out their forms? My understanding is that the sponsors of public radio do so to build brand goodwill and because they think that the shows they are sponsoring deserve their financial support. Neither seems like a valid way for the census to spend its budget.

I'm also annoyed by the racist nature of the census. They should drop the race and ethnicity stuff off. Its time for that we quit trying to classify people by things that don't matter.

 

[DancingBear]

I'm going to bet the next census will be done with an OPTION to do it online.

Based on the link I posted from the Census saying that's the plan, I'd say that's a sucker bet.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Based on the link I posted from the Census saying that's the plan, I'd say that's a sucker bet.

I'm sorry, I didn't read that. I should have. It seems it would be SOOOOO much simpler to do it online!