GPS, Twinkle Toes, and the Census:  One Enumerator’s Experiences

A close friend whom I have known for years recently became a displaced executive and signed on to be a census taker for some extra income as have many others in the same situation. He has a degree in geography, so it was a good fit. The possibility of ACORN and Twinkle Toes commandeering the census has created justifiable angst. My friend agreed to answer some questions about his experiences with the census:

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Q. Describe the selection and hiring process for a census enumerator. A. I took a written test that was not that hard. You are also subjected to a background check, residency check, and are fingerprinted. Once the training is completed, we are sworn in as census agents. Lots of folks never make it past the testing and background. All but one made it thru training. Q. In the group you trained with, what percentage were locals? Anyone look like an ACORN operative? A. All of the group I trained with was very local. We were to work a fairly small area, maybe 3 mile radius. Three of the 15 in the class lived about a block away. Ii did not see anyone from ACORN. Q. What does the "First Phase" of census taking entail? A. Phase 1 is basically updating the map and address database from 10 yrs ago. Many homes have been built since then. This is done by manually walking around the streets and verifying addresses. We also add new ones, remove ones no longer there, as well as add or delete streets if needed. Q. Everyone is curious or anxious about your hand held electronic device. What is it and what does it do? A. It is somewhat secretive, but is basically a cell phone that has GPS mapping features, and has fingerprint enabled security. With the experience within the group, these things have a fairly high failure rate. Using them, we can enter the mapping changes we see. Q. What is meant by "painting" someone's doorway? A. This was not addressed in our training. The term seems to mean the gathering of a GPS spot near the front door of a house. Keep in mind that if there is most any kind of overhang or covered porch over the front of the door, the GPS does not work there. We were instructed to stand as close as we can to the house in order to gather a GPS spot. It may not be at the front door. Q. What is a typical day like for you doing census work? A. After reviewing your assigned canvas area, we drive around the area to familiarize with the layout. We were given strict instructions to always work to the right and not cross the street until you are done with the block, then go to the next. As we walk, we have a list of addresses in our hand held computer and as we locate each address, we are to move as close as we can to the house in order to gather a GPS spot and enter in our HHC. There is nothing in the manual about going up to the front door, but most agree that it is a logical place to get a spot. We also delete bad addresses on the list, and add any not on the list. Q. What are the next phases? A. Next phase should be any corrections needed in the field prior to questionnaires going out. There are other smaller phases, but I am not sure what they are. The lion's share of the work comes after the questionnaires come back. We will be going out to addresses that did not return them for field interviews. Q. How would you describe the quality of training you received? A. The training was intense and lasted 5 full days, for a job that lasts 4 weeks. They thought of every situation and addressed it in the manual. Q. Please add anything you want readers to know. A. Most people we met along the way who were curious about what we were doing were very polite and cooperative. Much of the paranoia about the process may be unwarranted. The GPS spot is only associated with either an address or location description. I do not see a way it could be crossed referenced by name until the questionnaires have been returned and processed. By law, any personal info we gather is sealed for 72 years, and cannot be viewed or shared by other agencies.