United States Census 2010
A User Guide

United States Census 2010
Summary
Abstract
The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years.
Purpose
The purpose of the 2010 census is to determine the distribution of Congressional seats to states. The Census is
* mandated by the U.S. Constitution
* used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
* used to define legislature districts, school district assignment areas and other important functional areas of government
The 2010 questionnaire is one of the shortest in history, and comes very close to the length and scope of inquiries asked in 1790. Everyone in the household answers seven questions: name, gender, race, ethnicity, and whether they sometimes live somewhere else. The head of household answers how many people live in the residence, whether it is a house, apartment, or mobile home, and provides a telephone number for Census workers to follow up if any information is incomplete or missing.
Data Collection Waves
2010 Questionnaire
Question Scheme: 2010 Questions
Question: Q1
Question text: How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
Instructions: The Census must count every person living in the United
States on April 1, 2010.
Before you answer Question 1, count the people living in
this house, apartment, or mobile home using our guidelines.
• Count all people, including babies, who live and sleep here
most of the time.
The Census Bureau also conducts counts in institutions
and other places, so:
• Do not count anyone living away either at college or in the
Armed Forces.
• Do not count anyone in a nursing home, jail, prison,
detention facility, etc., on April 1, 2010.
• Leave these people off your form, even if they will return to
live here after they leave college, the nursing home, the
military, jail, etc. Otherwise, they may be counted twice.
The Census must also include people without a permanent
place to stay, so:
• If someone who has no permanent place to stay is staying
here on April 1, 2010, count that person. Otherwise, he or
she may be missed in the census.
Response Domains
Numeric domain: Number of people: Numeric Type Integer
Question intent: We ask this question to help get an accurate count of the number of people in the household on Census Day, April 1, 2010. The answer should be based on the guidelines in the ‘Start here’ section. We use the information to ensure response accuracy and completeness and to contact respondents whose forms have incomplete or missing information.
Question: Q2
Question text: Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?
Response Domains
Code Domain
1	Children, such as newborn babies or foster children	
2	Relatives, such as adult children, cousins, or in-laws	
3	Nonrelatives, such as roommates or live-in baby sitters	
4	People staying here temporarily	
5	No additional people	
Question intent: Asked since 1880. We ask this question to help identify people who may have been excluded in the count provided in Question 1. We use the information to ensure response accuracy and completeness and to contact respondents whose forms have incomplete or missing information.
Question: Q3
Question text: Is this house, apartment, or mobile home —
Response Domains
Code Domain
1	Owned by you or someone in this household with a mortgage or loan? Include home equity loans.	
2	Owned by you or someone in this household free and clear (without a mortgage or loan)?	
3	Rented?	
4	Occupied without payment of rent?	
Question intent: Asked since 1890. Homeownership rates serve as an indicator of the nation’s economy. The data are also used to administer housing programs and to inform planning decisions.
Question: Q4
Question text: What is your telephone number? We may call if we don’t understand an answer.
Response Domains
Text domain: Area Code + Number: Max Length 10: Min Length 10
Question intent: We ask for a phone number in case we need to contact a respondent when a form is returned with incomplete or missing information.
Question: Q5
Question text: What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s name?
Response Domains
Text domain: First Name
Text domain: Last Name
Text domain: MI
Question intent: Listing the name of each person in the household helps the respondent to include all members, particularly in large households where a respondent may forget who was counted and who was not. Also, names are needed if additional information about an individual must be obtained to complete the census form. Federal law protects the confidentiality of personal information, including names.
Question: Q6
Question text: What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s sex?
Response Domains
Code Domain
1	Male	
2	Female	
Question intent: Asked since 1790. Census data about sex are important because many federal programs must differentiate between males and females for funding, implementing and evaluating their programs. For instance, laws promoting equal employment opportunity for women require census data on sex. Also, sociologists, economists, and other researchers who analyze social and economic trends use the data.
Question: Q7
Question text: What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s age and what is Person { PersonCounter} ’s date of birth?
Instructions: Please report babies as age 0 when the child is less than 1 year old.
Response Domains
Numeric domain: Age on April 1, 2010: Numeric Type Integer
Numeric domain: Month: Numeric Type Integer
Numeric domain: Day: Numeric Type Integer
Numeric domain: Year of birth: Numeric Type Integer
Question intent: Asked since 1800. Federal, state, and local governments need data about age to interpret most social and economic characteristics, such as forecasting the number of people eligible for Social Security or Medicare benefits. The data are widely used in planning and evaluating government programs and policies that provide funds or services for children, working-age adults, women of childbearing age, or the older population.
Question: Q8
Question text: Is Person { PersonCounter}  of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
Response Domains
Text domain: Print origin, for example, Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard, and so on.: Max Length 19
Code Domain
1	No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin	
2	Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano	
3	Yes, Puerto Rican	
4	Yes, Cuban	
5	Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin	
Question intent: Asked since 1970. The data collected in this question are needed by federal agencies to monitor compliance with anti-discrimination provisions, such as under the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. State and local governments may use the data to help plan and administer bilingual programs for people of Hispanic origin.
Question: Q9
Question text: What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s race?
Response Domains
Code Domain
1	White	
2	Black, African Am., or Negro	
3	American Indian or Alaska Native	
4	Asian Indian	
5	Chinese	
6	Filipino	
7	Japanese	
8	Korean	
9	Vietnamese	
10	Native Hawaiian	
11	Guamanian or Chamorro	
12	Samoan	
13	Other Pacific Islander	
14	Some other race	
Text domain: American Indian or Alaska Native — Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.: Max Length 19
Text domain: Other Asian — Print race, for example, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Pakistani, Cambodian, and so on.: Max Length 19
Text domain: Other Pacific Islander — Print race, for example, Fijian, Tongan, and so on.: Max Length 19
Text domain: Some other race — Print race.: Max Length 19
Question intent: Asked since 1790. Race is key to implementing many federal laws and is needed to monitor compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. State governments use the data to determine congressional, state and local voting districts. Race data are also used to assess fairness of employment practices, to monitor racial disparities in characteristics such as health and education and to plan and obtain funds for public services.
Question: Q10
Question text: Does Person { PersonCounter}  sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
Response Domains
Code Domain
1	No	
2	Yes	
3	In college housing	
4	In the military	
5	At a seasonal or second residence	
6	For child custody	
7	In jail or prison	
8	In a nursing home	
9	For another reason	
Question intent: This is another question we ask in order to ensure response accuracy and completeness and to contact respondents whose forms have incomplete or missing information.
Question: P2
Question text: How is this person related to Person 1?
Response Domains
Code Domain
1	Husband or wife	
2	Biological son or daughter	
3	Adopted son or daughter	
4	Stepson or stepdaughter	
5	Brother or sister	
6	Father or mother	
7	Grandchild	
8	Parent-in-law	
9	Son-in-law or daughter-in-law	
10	Other relative	
11	Roomer or boarder	
12	Housemate or roommate	
13	Unmarried partner	
14	Other nonrelative	
Instrument: 2010 Instrument
2010 United States Census Questionnaire
Question: Q1 (Q1)
How many people were living or staying in this house,
apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
Question: Q2 (Q2)
Were there any additional people staying here
April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?
Question: Q3 (Q3)
Is this house, apartment, or mobile home —
Question: Q4 (Q4)
What is your telephone number? We may call if we don’t understand an answer.
Action: actionActivity1
PersonCounter = 1
While: (PersonCounter <= Q1)
Question: Q5 (Q5)
What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s name?
Conditional
Branch: (PersonCounter != 1)
Question: P2 (P2)
How is this person related to Person 1?
Question: Q6 (Q6)
What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s sex?
Question: Q7 (Q7)
What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s age and what is Person { PersonCounter} ’s date of birth?
Question: Q8 (Q8)
Is Person { PersonCounter}  of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
Question: Q9 (Q9)
What is Person { PersonCounter} ’s race?
Question: Q10 (Q10)
Does Person { PersonCounter}  sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
Action: actionActivity2
PersonCounter = PersonCounter + 1
Logical Data Products
United States Census 2010 Classifications
Code Scheme: Additional People Codes
1	Children, such as newborn babies or foster children	
2	Relatives, such as adult children, cousins, or in-laws	
3	Nonrelatives, such as roommates or live-in baby sitters	
4	People staying here temporarily	
5	No additional people	
Code Scheme: House Ownership Codes
1	Owned by you or someone in this household with a mortgage or loan? Include home equity loans.	
2	Owned by you or someone in this household free and clear (without a mortgage or loan)?	
3	Rented?	
4	Occupied without payment of rent?	
Code Scheme: Gender Codes
1	Male	
2	Female	
Code Scheme: Hispanic origin Codes
1	No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin	
2	Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano	
3	Yes, Puerto Rican	
4	Yes, Cuban	
5	Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin	
Code Scheme: Race Codes
1	White	
2	Black, African Am., or Negro	
3	American Indian or Alaska Native	
4	Asian Indian	
5	Chinese	
6	Filipino	
7	Japanese	
8	Korean	
9	Vietnamese	
10	Native Hawaiian	
11	Guamanian or Chamorro	
12	Samoan	
13	Other Pacific Islander	
14	Some other race	
Code Scheme: Lives Elsewhere Codes
1	No	
2	Yes	
3	In college housing	
4	In the military	
5	At a seasonal or second residence	
6	For child custody	
7	In jail or prison	
8	In a nursing home	
9	For another reason	
Code Scheme: Related Codes
1	Husband or wife	
2	Biological son or daughter	
3	Adopted son or daughter	
4	Stepson or stepdaughter	
5	Brother or sister	
6	Father or mother	
7	Grandchild	
8	Parent-in-law	
9	Son-in-law or daughter-in-law	
10	Other relative	
11	Roomer or boarder	
12	Housemate or roommate	
13	Unmarried partner	
14	Other nonrelative	
Concepts
Concept Scheme: United States Census 2010 Concepts