This report presents the assessment of the 2010 Census Coverage Measurement Person Matching and Followup Operations, including Person Computer Matching, Person Clerical Matching, and Person Followup. These operations provided data used to estimate person coverage for the 2010 Census.

The purpose of the 2010 Census Coverage Measurement Program was to evaluate the 2010 Census by providing estimates of net coverage error and components of census coverage (including omissions, erroneous enumerations, and correct enumerations) for housing units and persons in housing units in the Unites States and Puerto Rico in an effort to improve the 2020 Census, and censuses thereafter. The 2010 Census Coverage Measurement Program was designed to address problems identified with the Census 2000 Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation1 Program in determining a person’s Census Day residence, which resulted in not being able to adequately identify erroneous enumerations (many of which were found to be duplicates in the census). (Kostanich et al., 2004b) The 2010 Census Coverage Measurement Program expanded upon the 2000 Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation by collecting additional respondent-provided addresses where people lived or stayed around Census Day, conducting nationwide matching to identify duplication in the census, and measuring components of coverage error.

The Census Coverage Measurement Program excluded Remote Alaska. Coverage in group quarters facilities and persons residing in those facilities was also out of scope. Census Coverage Measurement operations were conducted in a probability sample of block clusters2 in each state, the District of Columbia (DC), and Puerto Rico. The Population sample and Enumeration sample were the two samples used for dual system estimation employed by the Census Coverage Measurement program. The Population sample was derived from an independent listing of housing units (completely separate from the census) and independent enumeration of persons in those units (during the Census Coverage Measurement Person Interview). The source of the Enumeration sample is the census housing units and census person enumerations in housing units geocoded to the sample of block clusters selected for the Population sample. In order to identify which persons were correctly enumerated in the census, which persons were erroneously enumerated in the census, and which persons were omitted from the census, Census Coverage Measurement matched people enumerated by the census and rosters of people independently collected by the Person Interview. Field followup was also conducted when necessary to resolve match, duplicate, residence, or enumeration status.