News & Announcements

ASA Encourages Its U.S. Members to Fill Out and Return their Census Forms Promptly

Census forms began arriving the week of March 15 and ASA encourages all members in the United States to fill out and return their census questionnaires promptly. In joining this call to ASA members, ASA President Sastry Pantula stated, “Since the Census is the largest activity of the largest U.S. statistical agency, it is especially important for statisticians to support it.” The decennial census determines representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and is used for the allocation of federal funding for health care, education, and roads. Further, every percentage point increase in the mail-back participation rate saves roughly $100 million that would be spent for non-response follow up.

Pantula also encourages ASA members to urge friends and neighbors to participate in this important process. The U.S. Census Bureau has created a website, which will be updated daily, where anyone can track the mail-back participation rates at a local level: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/. Further resources are available at http://2010.census.gov/partners/toolkits/toolkits-take10.php.