Civic · 6 pages · 12 min
How a census counts and also misses
A census tries to count every person once, and some people are still missed or counted twice.
From the opening
A census is an attempt to list every person in a defined place, once, at a defined moment. It also misses people who are hidden, moving, or left off forms, and it can count others twice, so the published total is a count plus coverage error. The opening covers forms miss people inside households, mobility creates duplicates, and follow-up still leaves gaps.
The rest of the brief — the later sections and the reading notes — opens after Stripe confirms payment.
Inside
- Forms miss people inside households
- Mobility creates duplicates
- Follow-up still leaves gaps
- Coverage checks measure the miss
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Census coverage error
- Post-enumeration survey