American Community Survey

[Brat]

Better still, make a hat for the census taker and insist that he wears it, then periodically put both hands on your head and say "Do you hear that?!?"

Brat...dont get in your car to get your mail.  Theres a bomb in the car and an audit letter in your mail box

IRS audits don't scrare me one whit.. They got their's.

When dealing with the Mafia, or the gov, it is important to understand what they want and what they fear.  All a car bomb would achieve is enriching my husband and save me from wasting away in a care facility.  Uncle Sam doesn't have any energy to go after an individual who ignores a Census request.  True, it is easier to convince them that any information they obtain from you us useless, but - short of intertainment value - I would just tell them to go on to the next best in their sample.

You need to consider that I am a gal well over 60 who has 'been there, done that',  a former neighbor of John Reed whose father took her to watch the Army McCarthy hearings.

 

[haha]

You need to consider that I am a gal well over 60 who has 'been there, done that',  a former neighbor of John Reed whose father took her to watch the Army McCarthy hearings.

Is this John Reed, the former chairman of Citicorp? Was he mobbed up?

Ha

 

[mb]

The John Reed from the Warren Beatty movie Reds?

 

[Rustic23]

From the Census Bureau's website

"The American community Survey is a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing.

It will replace the long form in future censuses and is a critical element in the Census Bureau’s reengineered 2010 census plan.”

Decision makers in government and industry use census data. If, when given a chance, we don’t reply, or answer with lies, how can we expect good decisions? In another thread the BLS used data on the financial state of the Baby Boomers, the most likely source of this data was from survey of the Census Bureau. And, yes, we got one and we replied.

 

[justin]

Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not after you.

 

[Brat]

Ah, I forget that many of you are sooo young and didn't hear "Goodby and Goodnight" live.  There are lots of John Reeds, the fellow I had in mind was the subject of "Reds".  I remember the time after WWII when the US government was fear mongering, not that there weren't things to be concerned about - but some sought power through fear and didn't give a hoot about truth and justice. 

I think the reason why the question of whether or not to participate in the survey even came up is that the level of trust has gone down, a lot, in recent years.  It was respondent's concern about govt action against them for not participating that prompted my reply. 

The Census Bureau historically has always tried to do the right thing and has provided many of us family history buffs with great information.  Looking at the data broadly you can see the paths of immigration. 

The design of a study anticipates that a portion of the sample will either not be found or will not cooperate.  If a whole town told them to take a hike the data will be compromised, but a few here and there won't skew the results.

I hope people will participate because they want to, not out of fear.  If there is a question that a respondent doesn’t want to answer, don’t.  The statisticians won't like it but so what. 

[Truth in posting: I have a BS in Math and am a retired Federal Investigator.]

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

This is why I'd like to offer up as little information as possible...

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/blog/2006/03/warning_financial_responsibili.html

When I paid off my wifes (then my girlfriends) mortgage a couple of years ago, something similar happened. It was just a days wait and I didnt need to do anything, but I was told that the dept of homeland security had to go through a little checking before my payment would be applied.

Oh yeah, and why again now was I paying off the mortgage for someone I wasnt related to or married to if there wasnt something fishy going on?

 

[Brat]

Oh yeah, and why again now was I paying off the mortgage for someone I wasnt related to or married to if there wasnt something fishy going on?

Shades of Iran, we now have our own sharia police!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I told them "None of anyones damn business".

Same thing happened when I cashed a cashiers check for a car I sold about 2 years ago. I had to fill out some homeland security form.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

An old friend is in the demography business. He assures me that the census results that are published are adjusted to prevent the public from being able to identify individuals from detailed data. For example, if there is only one black family in an area, the detailed publically available results will put a few more black families in the same area. The census is interested in large numbers of people, not individuals.

But the guy in the trenchcoat? Maybe he is interested in individuals. Maybe certain individuals. Maybe you.

 

[Martha]

I know someone who refused to answer the detailed census questionaire. He told me that the government had to know that stuff already, so why answer. Ha! Government isn't so organized. I don't tend towards conspiracy theories as I think the general competence level isn't high enough for effective conspiracies.

I wish people had enough trust to anwer these things. The data is valuable for all sorts of planning purposes.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Its the competence problem and the rididulous influences that result in what gets done with the data that bothers me. Not a vast right/left/gnome conspiracy that will target me and eventually penetrate my tin foil hat.

Look at that thing that happened last week where some homeland security guys showed up at a library and stated that porn was not to be viewed on public library computers, picked out a guy that according to the records that libraries turn over to homeland security appeared to have been doing just that and wanted him to "step outside and come with them". It wasnt until the librarian called local police who advised homeland security that they were not in their jurisdiction and that they couldnt take the guy that they left. Homeland security management said it was an abberation of poor training and that the two guys had been reassigned.

Mmmm hmmm...

I dont want to give anyone anything specific about me that can be improperly combined with any other two or three unrelated things that might not even have to do with me, and let the incompetent buttheads try to draw a conclusion from that and act on it...

Its bad enough that I might already be on a low-level watch list for paying off a mortgage, cashing a 5 figure cashiers check, and sending and receiving packages from people in australia...

 

[justin]

Its bad enough that I might already be on a low-level watch list for paying off a mortgage, cashing a 5 figure cashiers check, and sending and receiving packages from people in australia...

You are probably gonna be ok. Unless your last name is Mohammed or Ali-Aziz or something. In that case, good luck being on the watchlist!

 

[HFWR]

I sure hope the gummint has something more important to do than spy on me...