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Post-Enumeration Surveys
Post-Enumeration Surveys
The purpose of the Post-Enumeration Survey is to measure the accuracy of the census. The survey measures the accuracy of the census by independently surveying a sample of the population.
The U.S. Census Bureau has used post-enumeration surveys with dual system estimation to measure coverage in the Decennial Censuses of Population and Housing since 1980. This approach involves case-by-case matching of people in an independent survey with people in the census to determine who was missed or counted in error.
The post-enumeration survey-based coverage measurement program associated with the 2020 Census was called the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES).
On this page:
Overview
The 2020 PES was designed to support national-level and state-level estimates of census coverage.
The primary goal of the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) program was to measure coverage error in the 2020 Census. Fieldwork for the 2020 PES began in January 2020 and ended in February 2022.
Coverage Reports
Data Tables
PES Blogs
PES Design and Methods
2020 PES Independent Listing Operational Assessment Report
This assessment documents the results of the 2020 PES Independent Listing operation and provides valuable data for the 2030 PES planning cycle.
2020 PES Initial Housing Unit Matching Operational Assessment Report
This assessment documents the results of the 2020 Census PES Initial Housing Unit Matching operation and recommendations for future PES operations.
2020 PES Initial Housing Unit Followup Operational Assessment Report
This assessment documents the results of the 2020 Census PES Initial Housing Unit Followup operation and recommendations for future PES operations.
2020 PES Final Housing Unit Followup Operational Assessment
The 2020 Final Housing Unit Followup (FHUFU) was the last field operation of the PES and consisted of FHUFU production and FHUFU quality control (QC).
2020 PES Final Housing Unit Matching Operational Assessment
This assessment documents what happened during the FHU Matching operation, identified lessons learned, and produced valuable data for the 2030 PES plan.
2020 Census Operational Assessment Report: Post-Enumeration Survey Coverage Measurement Design and Estimation
This assessment report presents the key results, conclusions, and recommendations from the 2020 PES Coverage Measurement Design and Estimation Operation.
- Beaghen, M. & Turner, R. (2022) Analyzing the Imputations for Nonresponse in the 2020 Census Post-Enumeration Survey. In Proceedings of the 2022 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Beaghen, M. & Jost, M., & Marra, E. (2019) Using Statistical Models in Place of Clerical Matching in the Census 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey to Produce Estimates of Census Housing Unit Coverage. In Proceedings of the 2019 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Davis, L. A., Nguyen, T. T., & Hill, C. (2018) Considerations in Designing the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey Sample. In Proceedings of the 2018 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Heim, S. & Hill, C. (2022) Research on Reducing Correlation Bias in Dual-System Estimates. In Proceedings of the 2022 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Heim, K., Hill, C., Nguyen, T. T., & Kennel, T. (2018). Creating a Hard-To-Enumerate Score to Stratify the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey Sample. In Proceedings of the 2018 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association (forthcoming).
- Hill, C., Nguyen, T. T., & Kennel, T. (2018) Using Imputation Methods to Predict Listing Housing Unit Counts for Small Geographies. In Proceedings of the 2018 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Kennel, T. (2018) Calibrating Components of Coverage from a Post-Enumeration Survey. In Proceedings of the 2018 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Kennel, T. (2023) Impact of synthetic bias on estimates of state-level census coverage error. In Proceedings of the 2023 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Khubba, S. & Marra, E. (2022) COVID-19 Impacts on the Post-Enumeration Survey. In Proceedings of the 2022 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Khubba, S., Jost, M., & Hill, C. (2022) Nonresponse in the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey. In Proceedings of the 2022 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
- Konicki, S. (2022) Bias in the Post-Enumeration Survey Due to Duplicate Misclassification. In Proceedings of the 2022 Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association.
News Releases
PES Results for Nation and Demographic Groups (Released March 10, 2022)
PES Results for 50 States and Washington DC (Released May 19, 2022)
PES Results for Puerto Rico and Housing Units (Released August 16, 2022)
Page Last Revised - March 12, 2024
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