At the request of Congress, federal agencies, and other data users, the Census Bureau conducted research and produced two reports to address specific questions about operational feasibility and survey quality of the American Community Survey (ACS). More recently, issues of questionnaire content and increasing public privacy concerns led the Congress to ask if the ACS could be implemented as a voluntary, rather than a mandatory, survey.

Others in Series

WORKING PAPER | AUGUST 14, 2002

Methodological Issues in Local Area Application of the ACS

Discusses difficulties in comparing 2000 Census to 2000 American Community Survey for response and imputation rates.

WORKING PAPER | SEPTEMBER 27, 2002

The American Community Survey: Challenges and Opportunities for HUD

Identified HUD activities that depend on decennial census data and that could be affected by the American Community Survey.

WORKING PAPER | MARCH 2003

American Community Survey Operations Plan Release 1: March 2003

Identifies and documents components of the ACS and describes projects associated with making the transition from a demonstration program to a production survey.