The Census Count Question Resolution (CQR) operation empowers tribal, state, and local governmental entities to request a review of their boundaries and housing counts by the Census Bureau. This process aims to pinpoint any inaccuracies that might have arisen during the processing of their 2020 Census counts. This review process is crucial for guaranteeing that housing and population figures are correctly assigned to the appropriate 2020 Census blocks within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Alt: New construction homes in a suburban neighborhood, reflecting the importance of accurate census counts.
Legal stipulations influence the products that can be generated using CQR. The CQR framework can only assess data gathered and processed during the 2020 Census. Disclosure regulations prevent the Census Bureau from developing a public product for CQR. Given that CQR implements adjustments at the housing unit level, it might be feasible to ascertain the characteristics of the households that were relocated to a different governmental entity during the CQR procedure.
This determination of characteristics could be completed by comparing the official 2020 Census count with the revised count. For this reason, revised counts are exclusively shared with affected governmental units. CQR results cannot be used to revise or replace official 2020 Census counts because the revise counts are estimates, not exact population counts. Estimates are calculated to protect against disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The 2020 Census aims to protect individual privacy while providing valuable demographic data.
The CQR process involves recalculating a governmental unit’s population count. This is achieved by utilizing the average population size per household and applying it to the number of households that were moved to a different governmental unit. The actual housing unit population size is not used because of the potential for PII disclosure. This is a critical step to ensure data privacy and comply with data protection regulations.
CQR is limited to reviewing data that was collected and processed during the 2020 Census; it does not involve new data collection or a recount. When the review uncovers errors related to geographic boundaries or housing placement, corrections are made to housing and population counts. Following these corrections, the revised counts are then distributed. The 2020 Census respondent guide digital helped ensure the initial data collection was as accurate as possible.
Alt: Census Bureau employee working on a computer to process census data and maintain data accuracy.
In cases where the Census Bureau issues corrected counts based on their CQR case results, it’s important to understand that these revised figures do not alter or supersede the official 2020 Census count. These revised counts are intended solely for local governmental use. The CQR process is a tool for improving accuracy at the local level, providing local governments with the best data for resource allocation and planning, even if it doesn’t change the official national numbers. Understanding the 2020 Census new construction respondent guide digital is key for those wanting to understand the initial data gathering process.
