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2010 Census Group Quarters Validation Operation Assessment (Reissue)

Written by:
2010 Census Planning Memo No. 193 (Reissue)

Executive Summary

The purpose of the 2010 Census Group Quarters Validation assessment report is to provide results for the combined elements of the 2010 Census Address Canvassing operation and the Group Quarters Validation operation in compiling an address list of validated group quarters. Additionally, the report will address major aspects of the Group Quarters Validation operation that include, but are not limited to: quality assurance, cost, staffing and productivity data, automation implementation results, lessons learned, and recommendations in preparation for the 2020 Census.

The 2010 Census Group Quarters Validation operation supported the Census Bureau’s efforts to compile the most accurate Census Bureau address file using improved methodologies for data collection and coverage that were tested throughout the decade. The methodological advances were based on the 2004 and 2006 Census Tests, and the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal. They addressed the following changes: updated definitions for group quarters, a revised questionnaire, automated capture of Group Quarters Validation data, and new rules for updating the Master Address File/Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing database.

Aligning with the 2010 Census strategic goals to improve accuracy of census coverage and reduce operational risks, lessons learned from Census 2000 spawned the development of a fully integrated list of housing units and group quarters, hence the creation of two interfaced address list development operations, Address Canvassing and Group Quarters Validation. A decade of census test results demonstrated that the systematically integrated operations effectively distinguished housing units from group quarters.

The 2010 Census Address Canvassing universe of listings included addresses of housing units as well as addresses of group quarters that were in the Census 2000 Group Quarters inventory and additional addresses of potential group quarters from various sources including administrative records. Address Canvassing classified addresses in the universe as follows: a housing unit with or without changes to the address component, other living quarters with or without changes to the address component, duplicate, non-residential, non-existent, or uninhabitable.

A significant part of census coverage improvement included correctly identifying group quarters. During the 2010 Census Group Quarters Validation operation, identifying a group quarters address involved verifying whether or not the address had the correct census geography and validating the address as a group quarters, a housing unit, a transitory location, non-residential, vacant, or non- existent. If the address was validated as a group quarters, the Census Bureau determined the type of group quarters and collected information about the group quarters.

The universe of addresses for the 2010 Census Group Quarters Validation operation included all addresses identified as Other Living Quarters du ring Address Canvassing and addresses identified as potential group quarters by various selected sources for verification. The Group Quarters Validation universe included addresses compiled from the following sources:

  • Other Living Quarters Adds identified during the 2010 Address Canvassing operation,
  • Census 2000 Group Quarters and updates to the MTdb before the 2010 Census (Pre-2010),
  • Group Quarters from administrative records provided by the Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates and Service-Based Group Quarters and Group Home addresses from Service-Based Enumeration Internet Research conducted at the National Processing Center,
  • Group Quarters from the Local Update of Census Addresses that contain certain character strings frequently associated with group quarters in the group quarters name, and
  • Group Quarters identified during the American Community Survey Time of Interview operation.

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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