What Is the U.S. Census?
The U.S. Census Bureau defines its mission as "to serve as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy." As such, the bureau collects data on behalf of the U.S. government by surveying average Americans about their jobs, home life, communities and points of view. The data collected in every U.S. census is open and available to the public.
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Bureaucratic Region
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The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, whose job it is to foster growth in the United States in the areas of economics and technology. They accomplish this mission by creating business, industry, trade and statistics agencies. The Census Bureau provides data resources to help other agencies accomplish their goals.
Data
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The census aims to collect and catalog information accurately in several areas: people and households, business and industry, geography and government. The most broad census aims to count the number of people and households in America and collect information about their national background, age, gender, education and housing situation while keeping those surveyed anonymous. The census also collects statistics about the economic status of individuals, families, local communities, states and the nation as a whole.
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Frequency
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The census of U.S. persons and households is taken every 10 years, in the first year of a decade. A census of economics and another of the government are both conducted every five years. Community surveys are taken annually. The Census Bureau is always collecting and organizing information, even in years when the larger censuses are not taken.
Purpose
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Demographic information collected in the census determine congressional representation and school districts within communities based on population. The U.S. census also aids the federal government in allocating money for local programs and institutions and finding out if local governments are spending the money they already have responsibly.
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References
- Photo Credit travail de bureau casting lln 1 image by sebastien tibeau from Fotolia.com
