
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 16, 1994                   TAG: 9405160087
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

BIG CHANGES PLANNED FOR 2000'S CENSUS

Facing soaring costs and evidence that the 1990 census was in some ways the least accurate in decades, the Census Bureau is planning wholesale changes in how it will collect data in the year 2000 and beyond.

One change that is expected to be adopted, census officials say, is the use of sophisticated estimates based on surveys to supplement the actual counting - a volatile issue that was the center of a furious partisan battle in the last census.

The bureau is also considering scrapping the long-form survey that has been used once a decade to gather such information as household incomes or how many telephones a residence has.

In its place, the bureau plans extensive monthly surveys conducted over an entire decade.

To increase the percentage of households that mail back the census form - which hit a low of 65 percent in 1990 - the bureau is considering steps including dispensing census forms at post offices and other places and permitting people to respond by telephone.

Census officials admit that the last census missed urban and rural residents and minorities in disproportionate numbers.

by CNB