Relevant Data for Political Science in the 1970 Census

Extract

If, prior to the 1968 election, anyone had any doubts that the population statistics from the 1970 census would be of value to political scientists, those doubts would have been dispelled by the intensive use of census data in a publication of the U. S. Senate Republican Policy Committee on “Where the Votes Are,” and by the following statements in its introduction:

—Important laws may hinge on particular present or future population figures. Examples: Medicare, Mass Transit, Water Supply, School Classrooms, Food Production.

—Population data and projections are of great importance in considering legislation for the good of the Nation, regardless of political affiliation.

—Prosposed new legislation, or Government and political party policies, may depend upon—and with increasing frequency—the type and variety and number of America’s population.

—And, also, elections are won or lost by these votes.

Although the 1970 census reflects major changes in the method of collecting the data in the field, of processing the data, and disseminating the statistics, the content of the questionnaire does not differ significantly from 1960. Virtually all of the key items included in the 1960 census have been retained in 1970; a few new inquiries have been added on a sample basis; several questions have been reworded; and there are some changes in sampling rates.