OMG!! THE CENSUS!!

The census is here!  The census is here!  Whoop!!

You know how I know I am a nerd?  Because I am really stoked about the census being here...  IN fact, I am way more stoked about the census being here than I was about voting.  Isn't that awesome!! I love me some census!

So for demographers, the census is where it is at.  Here is why:

1.  First, it is the statistical accounting for everyone in the country.  Until census figures come out, the best guess that anyone has, is just that, a best guess.  It is a huge undertaking.  In the past it included a lot of questions and assessments about socioeconomic status, relationships of family members, etc.  But most of that has been shifted to the American Community Survey (formerly the long form of the census, I believe).  Dont get me started on the sampling that goes on with THAT!! (see Ike, I actually did attend some of the Center's brown bag sessions!)

2.  Why it's important?  Because it plays a large role in political representation.  Knowing how many people live where is key for determining how districts get reps and the composition of those districts (and likely the reps that are elected in districts).

3.  Even cooler... since my mom and Dave have started doing the ancestry.com thing, its possible to see generations down the line.  It's not uncommon for my mom to tell me about so and so, who she found in a 1910 census.  That is pretty badass.  So 70 years from now, when Nico's kids start getting interested in their genealogy, they can look back to the 2010 census and see the form from when he was a baby, where I had to cross out Bishop- because I accidentally put it in the section for "First Name."  Doh.

4.  Even awesomer?  I am using census data for my dissertation... so this will kind of be like full-circle!!  Whoot!

Which is why I don't understand this nonsense:


Here is what is ironic:  if you look at only white female fertility in the US, one would see that it is below replacement level... for every one of my sister there is (with 2 kids), there are women like LR and ED who have decided not to have kids.  Or they wait too long to have kids. In looking at white fertility, the next generation will not be as large as this current generation.  Which is okay.

However, not everyone's fertility rates are so low.  Hispanic women and African American women have somewhat higher fertility rates.  If you put all of this into a lifetable and let it playout for a couple of generations, then you would see a reversal of "minority" in this country- even if you didnt account for immigration.  So if everyone isn't counted properly, then there could be a situation where the number of reps doesn't match well, and also that the districts are drawn in a way that doesn't acknowledge everyone in the district.   

So by encouraging other anti-government, anti-intellectual, misinformed conservatives not to complete the census, Michelle Bachmann is actually increasing the likelihood that her kind (mostly white anti-government, anti-intellectual conservatives) aren't counted.  Which is fine by me.