Comments on: The Census Bureau Should Stick to YouTube

By: Audrey

Audrey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:10:09 +0000

I know a few outsourcers who’d be happy to do the job for ~ $4/hour, if the U.S. government needs some help trying this new approach.

By: Eric D. Dixon

Eric D. Dixon — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:14:56 +0000

Unfortunately, the sarcasm will be lost on all the protectionists who would be inclined to say exactly the same thing — but with a straight face.

By: Christine Harbin

Christine Harbin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:59:15 +0000

Outsourcing? Seriously? Shouldn’t those mindless data entry jobs go to hard-working Americans? And shouldn’t we compensate them with a “living wage” and healthcare benefits? And, as Americans, shouldn’t we be happy to offset this cost with higher taxes?

By: Audrey

Audrey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Belly dancers! How did someone end up reasoning that belly dancers would be a great way to promote the Census? As a former belly dance student (college), I never once thought, or was told, that belly dancing was a great way to promote government programs.

Re: Electronic Census filing. I have been wondering that for some time. And, the Census already has the perfect process in place for allowing electronic filing AND getting responses from people who do not have computers. 1. Send out paper notices to all households asking them to file online (Census sent out notification letters earlier). 2. Note that if they don’t file in 2 weeks, they will be sent a hard copy survey that they can mail in.

Interestingly, when I was talking with a friend about how this would save tons of data entry time, he said that OF COURSE we would fill out scantrons, so that a computer would do the data entry. I am looking at my Census form right now. Not a scantron. Someone will need to enter this data into a database. I suggest outsourcing.

By: Sarah Brodsky

Sarah Brodsky — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:40:15 +0000

Great question, Christine. The Census Bureau says that it isn’t sure the data would be secure, but it’s looking into it:

http://blogs.census.gov/2010census/2009/12/2010-census-and-the-internet.html

It would certainly be more convenient if you could submit the form online.

By: Christine Harbin

Christine Harbin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:27:39 +0000

I have a tangential comment/question. Why doesn't the Census deliver its forms electronically, instead of through snail mail? It would be easier for people like me who spend the majority of their waking hours online. I understand that the argument against electronic filing is that some populations (e.g., senior citizens, minorities) would have a lower response rate. However, Census seems to be relying on the Internet and new technologies to increase the response rate. The You-tube marketing campaign, as you discuss in your post, is an example. As further evidence of this, I recently heard a story on NPR that said that some organizations are using iPhone apps to increase the response rate of minorities specifically. This statistic surprised me:

"The reason we're starting to use this mobile online piece of it is that we found that 25 percent of iPhone users are of Latino decent," says Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino's executive director.