Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Census response depends on trust
Suburbs quicker to answer than urban, rural areas
BY MARIE McCAIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Mailed your census form back yet? Many of your neighbors have, especially those in Blue Ash, Delhi Township and Green Township.
But not nearly as many have been returned from residents in Cincinnati, Lincoln Heights or Moores Hill, Ind.
Why? Experts say it's all about trust. They compare the dilemma to a doughnut.
“We expect the quickest amount of returns from the suburbs and townships. And usually in the more urban and more rural areas, where people live who have tended to distrust the government ... responses take longer. If you think about it, it's like a doughnut,” said Steven Sievers, a planner and data analyst with the Regional Planning Commission of Hamilton County.
“In the inner city, response is down; in the surrounding suburbs and townships response is up; and in the outlying rural areas it's also down. It's a national trend that has gone on for a long time.”
Cincinnati officials will hold a public rally today at noon in Fountain Square to acknowledge Census Week, which started Sunday, and to encourage residents to mail back the forms.
On April 27, census workers will begin knocking on the doors of people who have failed to mail back their forms, said Michael Price, a spokesman for the federal Census Bureau. They will return up to six times in order to reach a resident, he said.
As of Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau determined a national mail-back average of 42 percent, with a projected final tally of 70 percent.
The rates are being posted via the Internet, a first for the federal head-counters, Mr. Price said.
Federal officials are hoping that local authorities will step up mail-back campaigns once they see how their areas are doing.
Results on census mail-backs can be found at rates.census.gov.
So far, Ohio is above the national average with 48 percent of the forms returned.
Kentucky is at 39 percent, while Indiana has 47 percent.
Wanda Vesper said Tuesday that she'll have her form mailed this week.
The Forest Park woman said she hasn't yet opened the envelope to see which form she received.
“My sister and a lady down the street both got the long forms,” Mrs. Vesper said. “I don't know what I got; but if it's that long form, I don't plan on answering some of the questions because I think they're too personal.”
She has been holding off on opening the envelope until both she and her husband could fill out the document together.
John Norwine, of Montgom ery, got the short form, which he has already returned.
He agreed with Mrs. Vesper's assessment of the long form, because he got that document in 1990. However, Mr. Norwine said he is used to filling out surveys.
“I do a lot of that at work,” he said. “But, I do think (returning the form) is beneficial to the country. Regardless of the fact that it's the law, the results really do have a lot to do with congres sional (reapportionment) and money allotted to our area.”
Peggy Manis of Springdale filled out both forms. She received the short form and she helped her mother, Norene, of Fairfield, fill out the long form.
“We need to get these forms in. So many things have changed since 1990, a lot of the data is outdated. ... I don't know why they ask some of the questions they ask but I just felt we needed to get it out of the way.”
In Lincoln Heights, where return levels are at 33 percent, a census rally has been planned Saturday at the Valley Homes Community Building at Leggett and Medosch avenues from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Councilwoman and event coordinator LaVerne Mitchell said the village is using contests and raffle prizes as incentives to convince residents to mail back the census forms.
Posters drawn by students from Lincoln Heights Elementary will be judged and prizes awarded, while each resident who mails a completed form will receive a raffle ticket, Mrs. Mitchell said.
Prizes included a framed picture called “The Family.”
Mrs. Mitchell said she is waiting until Saturday to mail her form. “I have to set an example,” she said.
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