Census Takers Research Articles

Rails East to Ogden: Utah's Transcontinental Railroad Story

Rails East to Ogden: Utah's Transcontinental Railroad Story

Harmonization of 2020 Round of National Census Programs Across the CIS. Towards the International Comparability of Results

This study draws on the findings of a survey conducted by the Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS-Stat) in the framework of a joint project with the UNFPA – CISPop «Better Data for Better Policies».The paper aims to present the author’s assessment of the level of harmonization between the national census programs across the CIS and the inter-comparability of their results in terms of total population size and its composition. The study is based on the analysis of methodological documents, which include census forms, manuals for census enumerators (census takers) and technical materials for census personal, that describes the concepts, definitions, and classifications used in national censuses. For countries where no censuses were taken, the authors used materials from pilot censuses and drafts of census documents.The study established that among countries there is a high degree of coherence of national census programs in terms of the key topics, concepts, and classifications used, as well as the wordings of the questions and their prompts. Simultaneously, the analysis allowed us to determine that national statistical services of the region focus on the expectations of their respective populations and take into account national legislation, local conditions, and traditions. First of all, nation-specific features manifested themselves in the formulation of questions concerning the economic, educational, and ethno-cultural characteristics of the population.Analysis of the materials of the works performed on the implementation of the 2020 round of population census programs across the CIS indicates that, based on the data of population censuses conducted in the past few years, it is possible to obtain harmonized data on the size and main characteristics of the population of countries, to provide international comparisons both within the CIS region, and between countries of the region and other countries of the world. International statistical community should be well informed about national practices of the CIS countries so that region-specific features can be accounted for in the international recommendations for future censuses.

The legal status of persons participating in the All-Russian Population Census 2020 (on the example of census takers)

The legal status of persons participating in the All-Russian Population Census 2020 (on the example of census takers)

Women at work in the United States since 1860: An analysis of unreported family workers

Estimated labor force participation rates among free women in the pre-Civil War period were exceedingly low. This is due, in part, to cultural or societal expectations of the role of women and the lack of thorough enumeration by Census takers. This paper develops an augmented labor force participation rate for free women in 1860 and compares it with the augmented rate for 1920 and today. Our methodology identifies women who are likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are not coded in the original data as formally working, but are likely to be engaged in the labor force on the basis of the self-employment of other relatives in their household. Unreported family workers are classified into four categories: farm, merchant, craft, and boardinghouse keepers. Using microdata, the inclusion of these workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census from 16 percent to 57 percent, more than doubles the participation rate in the 1920 Census from 24 percent to 50 percent, and has a small effect on the currently measured rate of 56 percent (2015-2019 American Community Survey). This suggests that rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate since 1860, it has in fact always been high and fairly stable over time. In contrast, the effect of including unreported family workers in the male augmented labor force participation rate is relatively small.

The 2020 Census in Russia: Institutional and financial considerations

Subject. The article discusses the finance of the census as a budgetary project, and respective issues. We focus on the specifics of expenditures for the 2020 census in Russia. Objectives. The study unveils and analyzes institutional expenditures for the 2020 census in Russia, identifies direct and indirect spending on the census. We substantiate approaches and suggestions concerning the improvement of the Russian census management and finance. Methods. The article is based on evidential, statistical and digital materials from Russia and other countries. We applied empirical, systems, analytical, economic, historical and other methods of epistemology. The practice is viewed as a measure of the truth of theoretical provisions. Results. The study unveils institutional sources and mechanisms for the finance of the Russian census, identifies specific features of the 2020 census expenditures in Russia. We suggest how the census should be improved in terms of the process management and finance. As a conclusion, we make our suggestions on the improvement of the financial management and balance of the census. The article proves it is possible to considerably cut the census spending during the digitalization of the public and municipal management. Conclusions and Relevance. The growing budget deficit makes the State analyze and reduce its expenditures. We suggest amending the census rules and considerably cut its costs. So, institutions should refuse to charge millions of local fees and hire census takers, but rather choose to use national data registers. The findings can be used to formulate and implement budgetary investment policy of governmental bodies, and by higher educational institutions.

Women at Work in the United States Since 1860: An Analysis of Unreported Family Workers

Estimated labor force participation rates among free women in the pre-Civil War period were exceedingly low. This is due, in part, to cultural or societal expectations of the role of women and the lack of thorough enumeration by Census takers. This paper develops an augmented labor force participation rate for free women in 1860 and compares it with the augmented rate for 1920 and today. Our methodology identifies women who are likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are not coded in the original data as formally working, but are likely to be engaged in the labor force on the basis of the self- employment of other relatives in their household. Unreported family workers are classified into four categories: farm, merchant, craft, and boardinghouse keepers. Using microdata, the inclusion of these workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census from 16 percent to 57 percent, more than doubles the participation rate in the 1920 Census from 24 percent to 50 percent, and has a trivial effect on the currently measured rate of 56 percent (2015-2019 American Community Survey). This suggests that rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate since 1860, it has in fact always been high and fairly stable over time. In contrast, the effect of including unreported family workers in the male augmented labor force participation rate is relatively small.

Church Reform of Peter I: Source Study Aspect (According to the Materials of the Vologda Archbishops House of St. Sophia)

Introduction. The inventory of buildings and property are an accounting document. The largescale description of the lands and property of the spiritual patrimony of 1701–1705 carried out within the framework of the Church Reform of Peter I should be considered as a stage in the control of the state over the material welfare of the Church. Materials. Inventories of bishops houses and monasteries were found in the central and regional archives. A number of documents of the early 18th century were published. Analysis. Different census takers carried out descriptions of the patrimonies of the Vologda Bishops house in five regions of the country, which indicates applying the uyezd by uyezd principle of the description of the regions. The comparison of the texts shows that census books of the patrimonies of the Vologda Bishops house of 1701–1702 were primary in relation to the census of economy (statements) of the Vologda Bishops house in 1702–1703. An inventory of the Bishops Treasury was also made. Results. The comparison of three censuses (patrimony, economy, treasury) gave state documents on the basis of which it was possible to make a complete picture of the economy and property of the Vologda house of St. Sophia. In this regard, a complete secularization of Church possessions actually took place, however it was not fully formalized legally.

Expert System for the Selection of the Rational Method for Collecting and Processing Information During Russian Census Based on Geographical and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Regions

Expert System for the Selection of the Rational Method for Collecting and Processing Information During Russian Census Based on Geographical and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Regions

Переписные кампании в Степном Казахстане во второй половине XIX - начале XX века: особенности организации и специфика проведения

Relying on archival materials and published sources, the article analyses the organization and implementation of statistical surveys in Steppe Kazakhstan in the second half of the XIX - at the beginning of the XX century. During the census campaign, special attention was paid to the following issues: informational provision, adaptation of census takers’ guides to the conditions of the Kazakh steppe, involvement of census takers. Having taken into account specificity of nomadic households, regional statistical services edited formsheets of the Central Statistical Committee and compiled their own ones.

Fraud and the California State Census of 1852

The California state census of 1852, upon which representation in Congress and the state legislature was based, was intentionally manipulated, as this article indicates. Census takers in both San Francisco and the mining counties engaged in chicanery, revealing the nature of politics in the new state. The study also finds that the proportion of women and families in San Francisco was greater than heretofore realized, which calls for a re-evaluation of the city’s social history. In addition, the census was inflated by counting Chinese residents as white, affecting historians’ understanding of the city’s racial composition. The author calculates the degree of miscount for future reference.

The Three Main Western Revolutions and Their Censuses

This article considers national censuses in the US, France, and Russia based on new principles and held after their respective revolutions. The authors aim to find out to what extent the authorities succeeded in following enumeration procedures based on international regulations. It is demonstrated that a census is a dialectical process involving the state and the population, requiring reciprocal trust. France had no experience of organising censuses with the exception of those in the country’s American colonies. The gentry wanted to keep control over their lands and would not share information about their population with the central authorities. In postrevolutionary France, the census held during the Jacobin terror was not entirely successful, with the state bureaucracy not being strong enough to organise a coherent census and different revolutionary committees taking uncoordinated measures to register the population. The US, however, had had a number of censuses organised by the British prior to the War of Independence. The first census in the United States was held in 1790 in compliance with the Constitution. As a result, the US has held censuses at decadal intervals ever since, but it faced a number of problems for a considerable amount of time, especially concerning the registering of racial minorities. Russia was at an advantage in that respect since it held the first all-Russian census in 1897 in addition to local censuses and census-like tax revisions. The first all-Soviet census organised after the Revolution and Civil War in 1926 was successful, especially among the ethnic minorities in the polar parts of the country. However, the 1937 census became part of repression measures, with detrimental consequences for the census and census takers alike. The US and Soviet censuses census organised after their respective revolutions were successful: in the former, the census created enthusiasm because it was regarded as an instrument to make the new democracy work, while in the Soviet Union of the 1920s, the census was perceived as a prerequisite for the social and economic modernisation of the new state.

Irish Origins and the Shaping of Immigrant Life in Savannah on the Eve of the Civil War

WE DO NOT KNOW WHY CHARLES J. WHITE DID IT. Perhaps he was a particularly meticulous gentleman. Perhaps he was curious. Perhaps he anticipated the interests of future generations of historians. Perhaps he simply misunderstood his instructions. These directions, distributed to the thousands of census takers who began compiling the eighth decennial census in June 1860, directed White to record the state of birth for anyone born in the United States or the nation of birth for anyone born abroad. But White, a twentyeightyearold whose active support of the Democratic Party had likely led to his appointment as the deputy United States marshal for the southern district of Georgia, did not follow his instructions. If respondents told White that they were nativeborn Americans, he insisted on knowing their exact birthplace within their native state and duly recorded the information. If “Ireland” was the response he received, he asked in which of Ireland’s thirtytwo counties the immigrant had been born. This was the procedure White followed for every one of the 13,875 white inhabitants of Savannah (including 3,145 Irish immigrants) and the 705 free people of color he tallied in the summer of 1860. For Savannah’s 7,712 slaves, however, White did follow instructions, recording only their age, gender, skin color, and the name of the owner, not that of the slave. The Savannah census of 1860 is unique. In no other major American city did an antebellum census taker record such detailed birthplace data for all of its residents. Historians can therefore ask, and answer, a number of questions about the Irish in Savannah on the eve of the Civil War that they can for no other city. We can examine, for example, a question that for decades has puzzled historians on both sides of the Atlantic—from exactly where in Ireland did the immigrants who emigrated in the wake of the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s and early 1850s originate? We can also consider the extent to which an immigrant’s Irish birthplace affected his or her employment opportunities. Finally, we can reconstruct

Uncertain Counts: The Struggle to Enumerate First Nations in Canada and the United States, 1870–1911

Throughout the nineteenth century, Canada and the United States struggled to gain accurate demographic data on the First Nations and Métis communities they claimed to oversee. Enumerators grappled with linguistic and cultural differences, distrust, the ambiguity of racial categories, and the geographic mobility and isolation of many Native American communities. Understanding how, where, and why national census takers and Indian agents failed to overcome these challenges sheds light on the locality of federal power and the pathways through which Native Americans maintained their autonomy.

Sweden in 1930 and the 1930 census

The primary goal of censuses has always been to collect reliable information on the state’s population and provide a basis for governmental decision-making. This study examines the categories used in the 1930 census and links them to the context in which they were generated. We treat the census as a tool of state power, which can be discerned from the definitions of its categories and the way in which statistics are collected and used. The guiding question of the study was “how does the 1930 census differ from previous censuses and how can these differences and changes be explained?” We find that as in earlier censuses, Statistics Sweden used extracts from the parish books on the individual level to collect information for the 1930 census, but also used diverse supplementary sources including tax registers, income tax returns and language surveys. Thus, unlike in most countries, Sweden did not send out census takers or questionnaires to the population. Many of the new or updated variables we see in the 1930 census such as income, wealth, and number of children born, can be related to the political and social debate concerning the poor working class and the establishment of the welfare state. The inclusion of categories such as ethnicity, religion, and foreign nationality can be seen as part of a normative approach wanting to control, monitor and correct deviant elements of the Swedish population.Sweden has several extraordinary longitudinal population databases built on the country’s excellent parish registers dating back to the 18th century. While the Swedish censuses have rarely been used as sources of data for historical analysis, this work demonstrates that the 1930 census has great potential to support new research.

TPA: A Two-Phase Approach Using Simulated Annealing for the Optimization of Census Taker Routes in Mexico

Censuses in Mexico are taken by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). In this paper a Two-Phase Approach (TPA) to optimize the routes of INEGI’s census takers is presented. For each pollster, in the first phase, a route is produced by means of the Simulated Annealing (SA) heuristic, which attempts to minimize the travel distance subject to particular constraints. Whenever the route is unrealizable, it is made realizable in the second phase by constructing a visibility graph for each obstacle and applying Dijkstra’s algorithm to determine the shortest path in this graph. A tuning methodology based on theiracepackage was used to determine the parameter values for TPA on a subset of 150 instances provided by INEGI. The practical effectiveness of TPA was assessed on another subset of 1962 instances, comparing its performance with that of the in-use heuristic (INEGIH). The results show that TPA clearly outperformsINEGIH. The average improvement is of 47.11%.

DECIMA: The Digitally Encoded Census Information and Mapping Archive, and the Project for a Geo-Spatial and Sensory Digital Map of Renaissance Florence

DECIMA:The Digitally Encoded Census Information and Mapping Archive, and the Project for a Geo-Spatial and Sensory Digital Map of Renaissance Florence Nicholas Terpstra (bio) and Colin Rose (bio) A project at the University of Toronto, with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC), is developing a mapping tool that will allow for the spatial organization of early modern historical, cultural, and sensory materials.1 Called the Digitally Encoded Census Information and Mapping Archive (DECIMA), it uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to map, house by house, a 1561-62 Florentine tax census onto one of the best city maps produced in the sixteenth century. This undertaking will allow scholars to understand the social geography of Renaissance Florence in dynamic ways, creating a highly adaptable ecosystem for the cultural analysis of a variety of problems and issues. One key advance is that this project aims not simply to computerize a fixed field of data, but also to develop a tool for the ongoing accumulation of material by scholars in different disciplines, chiefly history, art history, literature, and music. We also aim eventually to apply the experience developed in the Renaissance Florence map to extend the tool to other early modern cities with similar source materials. The DECIMA project contributes to the expansion of historical GIS with a large database of historical maps and accompanying datasets that will be accessible and expandable by a range of scholars. DECIMA's project to create a digital map of Renaissance Florence integrates two sets of sources, one visual and one manuscript-based. The visual source is a late-sixteenth-century axonometric projection (often known as a "birds-eye-view") of the city of Florence. It was originally produced in 1584 by an Olivetan monk, Stefano Buonsignori, about whom little is known. Buonsignori employed the common survey techniques of the sixteenth century to produce a map that contemporaries recognized as exceptional, and that map was widely reproduced for over a century. The map's strengths make it an ideal source for digitization. It is large, printed in nine sheets, with the original measuring 123 x 138 cm. Using an extremely high-resolution digital reproduction, [End Page 156] DECIMA researchers are able to zoom in to individual street and building level without sacrificing the quality of the image. The map is of sufficient accuracy that geo-referencing it in a GIS program has proven successful, although the limitations of Buonsignori's survey technique result in a slight skew of the spatial accuracy in the eastern edge of the city's southern Oltrarno district. Finally, although the drawn buildings are often impressionistic, particularly townhouses, Buonsignori was extremely careful in the drawing and locations of significant markers, including monasteries and convents as well as the city's churches, palaces, monuments, and city squares. This map forms the visual basis of the DECIMA Digital Map of Renaissance Florence. The major text source for the DECIMA project is a 1561-62 tax census of Florence called the "Decima Granducale." This street-by-street, house-by-house tax census was commissioned by Duke Cosimo I, and it includes extensive information on the physical fabric and inhabitants of the city. The duke received a presentation copy in 1562 that is available in a modern reproduction.2 The DECIMA project works with what were essentially the detailed notes made by the census takers over the previous year as they moved house by house through the city compiling data (held in the State Archive of Florence: Archivio di Stato di Firenze, 325, Decima Granducale 3780-3784). Their records account for the residents in each of the four quarters of the city (Santa Maria Novella, San Giovanni, Santa Croce, and Santo Spirito) and devote a separate volume to the city's workshops and places of business or botteghe (ASF, 325, Decima Granducale 3784). The census takers were assiduous in noting their route and methodology, with each entry linked to the entries above and below it via a description of the building's relationship to its surrounding buildings, e.g. whether it is attached to a building next door, is free-standing, or is the end of a section of...

Women in the Rural and Industrial Labor Force in Nineteenth-Century Spain

This contribution analyzes determinants of women's labor force participation (LFP) in northwest coastal Spain (Galicia) in the second half of the nineteenth century. The study uses census takers' notebooks from 1857 and 1870 in three municipalities with different economic structures: Nigrán, an agricultural municipality in southern Galicia on the estuary of Vigo, where women predominantly worked in agriculture; Bueu, an industrial town where 80 percent of women were employed in fish processing and related activities; and Coruña, Galicia's biggest city in 1857, where commerce and services were the main economic activities. The sample represents 2 percent of the region's population. The study focuses both on demand – how the local economic structure influenced the entrance of women into the labor market; and supply – how age, civil status, and number of children influenced women's LFP. The industrialization of coastal Galicia impelled women's high participation rates.

Making Mexico: Legal Nationality, Chinese Race, and the 1930 Population Census

“Take the census; make the country. Let's do both together!” “Hacer censos, es hacer Patria. Ayúdenos a hacerlos” cajoled one bold, bright poster in the days before May 15, 1930 when census takers dispersed across Mexico to count its inhabitants. Other placards similarly played on multiple meanings for the verb “hacer”—to make or to do: “Taking a census will make the country …” “Hagamos censos y haremos patria…” At the same time, within that collective nation-building, a census jingle affirmed individual importance: “A census is a count. He who is numbered, counts. And he who counts, succeeds.” “Un censo es una cuenta. El que censa, cuenta. Y el que cuenta, acierta.” In government propaganda, the 1930 census made Mexico and drew its inhabitants into the national fold, an ongoing, delicate project after the fratricide of the 1910 Revolution.

Overview of the Use of High Tunnels Worldwide

High tunnels have been used for many years worldwide, but in the United States, the utilization of high tunnel technology for the production of horticultural crops is a relatively recent phenomenon. Single and multibay high tunnels are used throughout the world to extend the production season. One big advantage of high tunnels in the temperate and tropical regions of the world is the exclusion of rain, thus reducing the amount of disease pressure and crop loss while improving crop quality and shelf life. In temperate regions of the world, high tunnels are used to increase temperatures for crop production in spring, fall, and sometimes winter seasons. The use of high tunnels in their many forms continues to increase worldwide, and many different kinds of vegetables, small fruit, tree fruit, and flowers are being cultivated. One impediment in determining high tunnel usage worldwide is the failure of many authors and agricultural census takers to distinguish between high tunnels and plastic-covered greenhouses. In many instances, they are presented together under the heading “protected cultivation.”

Overview of the Use of High Tunnels Worldwide

High tunnels have been used for many years worldwide, but in the United States, the utilization of high tunnel technology for the production of horticultural crops is a relatively recent phenomenon. Single and multibay high tunnels are used throughout the world to extend the production season. One big advantage of high tunnels in the temperate and tropical regions of the world is the exclusion of rain, thus reducing the amount of disease pressure and crop loss while improving crop quality and shelf life. In temperate regions of the world, high tunnels are used to increase temperatures for crop production in spring, fall, and sometimes winter seasons. The use of high tunnels in their many forms continues to increase worldwide, and many different kinds of vegetables, small fruit, tree fruit, and flowers are being cultivated. One impediment in determining high tunnel usage worldwide is the failure of many authors and agricultural census takers to distinguish between high tunnels and plastic-covered greenhouses. In many instances, they are presented together under the heading “protected cultivation.”