Prevalence and Effect of Misclassification on Measuring Census Coverage

Oregon Convention Center 

Capture-Recapture methods are often used to estimate the size of populations. The models underlying these methods often require characteristics to be reported similarly across two independent measurements. For the 2020 Census and Post-Enumeration Survey there was meaningful disagreement in the measurement of occupancy, race, and Hispanic Origin. For example, of the 12,400 vacant housing units in a sample of census housing units that matched to the Post-Enumeration Survey, 50% were classified as occupied by the Post-Enumeration Survey. In this study, we report the degree of inconsistency between the two independent measurements and analyze how measurement error impacts dual-system estimates of the sub-population sizes.

Measurement Error

Census

Coverage

Dual-System Estimation

Capture-Recapture 

Survey Research Methods Section