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Report to Congress: October 1, 2000

Appendix
GLOSSARY OF TERMS

"90 plus five" - Response Rate Goal
Goal the Census Bureau Director suggested for local governments. The "90" refers to the mail back rate an area had during the 1990 census. The "plus five" refers to the goal of achieving five percentage points better. For example, the city of Modesto had a 65 percent mail back rate in 1990. For 2000, the Director asked that the city work toward achieving a 70 percent mail back response rate.

AM - Area Manager
Supervisor responsible for several LCO operations within a specific geographical area. This position is based in the Regional Census Center.

AMA - Assistant Manager for Administration
Mid-level supervisor responsible for various administrative duties within a LCO such as payroll.

AMFO - Assistant Manager of Field Operation
LCO's "second in-command." Reporting directly to the LCOM, the AMFO is in charge of overseeing the field operations of the LCO.

ARCM - Assistant Regional Census Manager
"Second in command" within the RCC structure. Some RCCs had more than one ARCM.

Background Check
Formal search for criminal histories, warrants etc. Every person hired by the Census Bureau went through such checks.

Be Counted Program
Bureau program that provided unaddressed questionnaire forms to individuals who believed they were not counted. These census questionnaires are called Be Counted forms. Be Counted forms were available at all QACs and additional Be Counted Sites (unstaffed display stands containing Be Counted Forms). Questionnaires were located in high-traffic places like convenience stores and healthcare centers, usually in Hard-to-Enumerate areas.

Blitz Enumeration
A style of enumeration that used groups of enumerators to canvas an entire apartment building, block or neighborhood. Often used in crime-ridden or government-fearing communities. Same as Team Enumeration.

CCC - Complete Count Committee
A volunteer committee comprised of community leaders. These committees supplemented LCO efforts with Census 2000 outreach, promotion, recruiting, and enumeration assistance.

CIFU - Coverage Improvement Follow-up
Post NRFU census operation during which housing units with "vacant" or "deleted" status are verified.

CL - Crew Leader
A line supervisor in charge of about 15 enumerators. Responsible for monitoring the progress of enumerators.

Close-Out
When LCOs completed 95 percent of their field enumeration, they commenced close-out procedures. Enumerators visited any remaining open cases a final time and were instructed to obtain data from friends, neighbors, or others in the community if respondents were not at home.

CMB or "the Board" - Census Monitoring Board
The U.S. Census Monitoring Board

CMBC - Census Monitoring Board Congressional Members
The four members of CMB appointed by Congressional leadership (the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader).

CMBP - Census Monitoring Board Presidential Members
The four members of CMB appointed by the President.

Colonias - Small, rural, unincorporated communities primarily along the Texas/Mexico border. These communities often lack basic services such as water, paved roads, and sewage systems. They were usually HTE and were enumerated by the list/enumerate method.

E-911 Address
A unique number posted on or near a housing unit, especially in rural areas, for use by emergency personnel. May or may not be used for mail delivery.

ELCO - Early Local Census Office
These are local census offices that opened a year earlier than other LCOs to prepare for census operations.

English Proficiency Test
The Census Bureau requires that employees must have a certain level of knowledge with the English language. The Bureau constructed a test to grade a potential employee's proficiency with English. Failing the test could result in not being hired.

FOS - Field Office Supervisor
Supervised the CLs within a LCO office.

Front loading
Recruiting or hiring more applicants than are actually needed so that predictable attrition will not erode full employment level goals.

GSA - General Services Administration
Federal agency that was responsible for finding office space for the LCOs, as well as maintenance and upkeep of those offices.

HTE - Hard-to-Enumerate
Term used to identify a census block or group of blocks that, based on 1990 data, met certain criteria (e.g., low mail response rate, linguistically isolated community) which indicated the area would be difficult to enumerate in the 2000 census.

HTE Plans - Hard-to-Enumerate Plans or Hard-to-Enumerate Action Plans
Bureau-generated strategies to count Hard-to-Enumerate areas. Census Bureau Headquarters developed the initial HTE Plans (based on 1990 census data) and Local Census Offices updated and expanded their plans to suit changes to their jurisdictions since 1990.

LCO - Local Census Office
A temporary Census Bureau office established to conduct census operations at the local level. For Census 2000, the Bureau established 520 LCOs. For an organizational chart of a LCO see page 236.

LCOM - Local Census Office Manager
Individual responsible for the overall management and success of a LCO. All assistant managers reported to the LCOM.

L/E - List/Enumerate
Method of collecting data employed in sparsely populated and remote areas such as rural Wyoming. Census Bureau employees located the housing units, personally enumerated the households, and updated the census maps when necessary.

LUCA - Local Update of Census Addresses
Program established to provide local and tribal governments the opportunity to review and update address information in the MAF.

MAF - Master Address File
Census Bureau data source containing the addresses of every known housing unit.

Mail Back Response Rate
Percentage of housing units that returned their questionnaires via the mail during the MO/MB phase.

MALDEF - Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and promote the civil rights of the more than 29 million Latinos living in the United States.

MO/MB - Mailout/Mailback
Method of collecting census data achieved through the use of the U.S. Postal Service delivering questionnaires to housing units with city style addresses. Residents of such units complete the forms and mail them back in stamped self-addressed envelopes. Eighty percent of the nation'shousing units were enumerated in this manner.

NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
A large and influential civil rights organization whose principal objectives are to eliminate race prejudice and ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of minority group citizens of the United States.

NRFU - Non-Response Follow-Up
Following the MO/MB phase, census enumerators canvassed housing units from which the Census Bureau did not receive questionnaires.

PDB - Planning Database
Data source used by the Census Bureau to develop enumeration strategies throughout the country. The PDB was based on data from the 1990 Census.

Paired Enumeration
Enumeration style that used two enumerators instead of one. It was commonly employed in high-crime neighborhoods.

P. O. Box Delivery
The Bureau instructed the Postal Service not to deliver, or forward, census forms to Post Office Boxes. Census questionnaires inadvertently addressed to P.O. Boxes were categorized as UAAs and returned to the LCO. (See also UAA - Undeliverable As Addressed.)

Privacy Act
The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a (1994) (amended 1996, 5 U.S.C.A. § 552a (West Supp. 1997)), which became effective on September 27, 1975. The Act provides for a "code of fair information practices" which regulates the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personal information by federal government agencies.

Proxy Data
Data collected for housing units from sources other than the housing unit resident, such as neighbors, postal carriers, or building managers.

PS - Partnership Specialist
Census Bureau employees who worked for the RCCs in assisting the LCOs and local communities in building awareness and increasing participation in Census 2000.

PSA
Public Service Announcement.

QAC - Questionnaire Assistance Center
Centers established by LCOs to assist residents with completing their census questionnaires. These centers were usually located in community centers, large apartment buildings, and shopping centers, and staffed by volunteers and/or Census Bureau employees.

RCC - Regional Census Center
For enumeration purposes, the Bureau divided the nation into 12 regions—each having one Regional Census Center. The RCCs managed and supported the LCOs within their regions. For an organizational chart of a RCC see page 237.

Regional Director
Census Bureau official responsible for a Regional Office.

Re-interview
Census Bureau quality control process whereby randomly selected housing units were contacted again to ensure that the original enumerators corrected complete and accurate data.

Special Places
Places where people live that contain one or more group quarters. A few examples are colleges, hospitals, prisons, hotels, military bases, and ships.

Team Enumeration
Synonym for blitz enumeration.

Toolkit
Set of strategies (blitz enumeration, paired enumeration, and the like) available to LCOs in order to develop their HTE plans.

UAA - Undeliverable As Addressed
U.S. Postal Service notification that a mailing piece cannot be delivered to the designated address. The reasons varied, but in most instances the housing units were vacant, non-existent, or had been demolished. The Postal Service returned UAA questionnaires to the Bureau. (See also P. O. Box Delivery )

U/L - Update/Leave
Census data collection method whereby enumerators delivered questionnaires to housing units that did not have recorded city style addresses. Occupants were expected to complete and mail back to the Bureau.

 CONTENTS: 

Introduction

Atlanta Region

Boston Region

Charlotte Region

Chicago Region

Dallas Region

Denver Region

Detroit Region

Kansas City Region

Los Angeles Region

New York Region

Philadelphia Region

Seattle Region

Appendix


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