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Bilingual Questionnaires by Collection Blocks

2010 Census Bilingual Questionnaire Universe
July 29, 2010

The Census Bureau decided to use the bilingual (English/Spanish) form for 2010 after significant testing from 2002 through 2008. The goal behind the 2010 bilingual stratification was to reach the maximum number of housing units that may require Spanish language assistance to complete their 2010 Census questionnaire. We used American Community Survey data from 2005-2007 to identify the housing units that will receive a 2010 Census bilingual questionnaire.

The bilingual estimation was primarily based on responses to two questions: Language Spoken at Home, and Ability to Speak English. For the 2010 Census, we defined "Spanish Assistance" housing units as those in which at least one adult (age 15 or older) in the household speaks Spanish and does not speak English "very well." An entire geographic tract was identified if the number of "Spanish Assistance" housing units was at least 20 percent of the occupied units in the tract. These are the same criteria that were used for the bilingual stratification in the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal. The specification for the bilingual stratification to identify the selected Spanish-assistance tracts was finalized on December 8, 2008.

After the preliminary 2010 bilingual file was created in December 2008, we asked Census Regional Office Directors to provide input into the initial phase selection of tracts based on their local knowledge. Eight regions provided input and asked us to remove four tracts and add 465 tracts to the bilingual file. Four Regional Directors indicated there were no changes needed to their files. The Regional Director's changes were all accepted and incorporated into the final 2010 Census bilingual questionnaire universe file.

Due to operational and processing requirements, and the need to accommodate field assignment area delineations, the selected tabulation tracts were then linked to the appropriate collection blocks. All housing units in these blocks will receive a bilingual English/Spanish initial questionnaire. In update/leave areas, where mixed assignment areas were present in the file, the blocks were reassigned based on the block type (English-only or bilingual) containing the majority of housing units in that assignment area. In the final file, no assignment area contains a mix of English-only and bilingual blocks.

The final 2010 Census bilingual file, consisting of 336,343 blocks and approximately 13.5 million households, was created on June 17, 2009. The households in the bilingual sample that do not respond by April 1, 2010 will receive an English-only replacement questionnaire.

The other prominent 2010 non-English languages, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese, were also determined by using 2005 - 2007 American Community Survey data. For these languages, and Spanish, in-language questionnaires, assistance, or materials will be available through Telephone Questionnaire Assistance, Be Counted sites, Questionnaire Assistance Centers, on the Census Bureau Web site, and through national or local partnership and outreach programs.

For additional information on the 2010 Census Language Program, contact Adrienne C. Oneto at (301) 763-1538 or adrienne.c.oneto@census.gov.