The objective of this presentation is to provide information on how the Census Bureau uses ethnographic methods to improve data quality and enumeration procedures and to illustrate how this is accomplished by presenting findings from a recent ethnographic study of border communities (colonias) during Census 2000.

Ethnographic research at the U.S. Census Bureau dates back to 1971 with a study of the coverage of African American males in a national demographic survey. However, it was not until the late 1980s that ethnographic fieldwork was conducted at a wide scale. To illustrate how ethnographic techniques are used at the Census Bureau the presentation discusses a recent ethnographic study of border communities (or colonias) during Census 2000. The objectives and specific methodology used in the border community study is presented and discussed. This is followed by a summary of the major findings and recommendations for the improvement of enumeration procedures.

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6/19/2001vs, Minority_Health@unc.edu