Beginning with the Congressional Act of March 6, 1902, the U.S. Census Bureau was legally established as the official data collector for the United States of America. The Census Bureau routinely conducts multiple national, large-scale household surveys and censuses to provide the Administration; Congress; state, local, and tribal planners; the business community; trade associations; academicians; and other data users with a vast array of essential information. Most notable is the every 10-year (decennial) census of population and housing.
This section provides an overview of operations and systems in the 2010 Census of Population and Housing. To assist in understanding terms in the descriptions of many operations or to learn more about the 2010 Census, please refer to "www.2010census.gov" or the official 2010 Census glossary of acronyms, where detailed definitions of terms and acronyms can be found at www.census.gov/dmd/www/glossary.html. Thumbnail descriptions are found in this section as well as the operational timeline for the operations and the contact information for the 12 regional offices.
The mission, upon which we define the requirements and build the systems, is the 2010 Census will conduct a census of population and housing, and disseminate the data to the President, the States, and to the American people. The scope of the 2010 Census is as follows:

• The 2010 Census shall cover the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Pacific Island Area of American Samoa, and Federally Affiliated Americans overseas.
• The Census Day for the 2010 Census shall be April 1, 2010; have a boundary reference date of January 1, 2010; and deliver apportionment counts to the President by December 31, 2010, and redistricting counts to the states by April 1, 2011.
• The 2010 Census concludes upon delivery of all products and the subsequent headquarters closeout activities ending September 30, 2013.

The focus of this section is the 2010 Census. It does not include descriptions of the American Community Survey or the Master Address File/Topographically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing(MAF/TIGER®) database Enhancement Program. It should also be noted that from a strategy and operational perspective, Puerto Rico is treated the same as the 50 States and the District of Columbia, with the exception of language (Spanish) and minor program modifications.

The forty-four 2010 Census operations and operation groups are categorized into 1 of the 6 categories based on the similarity of their missions. High-level descriptions of the operational planning categories are:

  1. Provide Support - This category is concerned with supporting operations of the 2010 Census through the organization and operation of the census business processes that make the census mission possible. Activities include operational support, planning and management support, as well as infrastructure support and system design, development, and testing.
  2. Establish Where to Count - This category is concerned with gathering and compiling the needed inputs to ensure the completeness of the geographic and address data that make up the framework for the census, as well as establishing the respondent data collection universe for the census itself. These activities provide the basis for the work done to collect respondent information.
  3. Collect and Integrate Respondent Information - This category is concerned with the actual collection of census respondent information as derived through processing completed census forms delivered by the U.S. Postal Service or gathered through field enumeration activities.
  4. Provide Census Results - This category is concerned with the refinement of collected census response data and dissemination of census results. Response data collected from census forms processing and field enumeration are refined and edited to produce an accurate count with complete data characteristics. These counts with characteristic data are then summarized, which removes personally identifiable information. A wide array of census products are then produced and disseminated.
  5. Measure Census Coverage - This category includes coverage measurement operations that are separate from and independent of the census operations. They are designed to provide estimates of net coverage error and omissions and erroneous enumerations for persons in housing units and for the housing units themselves. These activities provide the needed inputs, which allow census coverage to be measured.
  6. Analyze and Research the Census-This category includes 2010 Census assessments, evaluations, and experiments. Assessments are used to document final volumes and rates for individual operations or processes, using data from production files and activities; quality control files and activities; and information collected from debriefings and lessons learned. Evaluations analyze the outcomes of pre-specified census operations, such as the effectiveness of integrated communications. Experiments are studies that occur during the census to learn about new or different methodologies which inform the 2020 Census design.

The Provide Support operational planning category includes the operations that sustain the 2010 Census through activities that allow the data collection operations to run smoothly and efficiently. These activities include planning and management support, security, public communications, language translation, materials support, infrastructure support, and management of system design, development, and deployment.

1. 2010 Census Management Operations-Responsible for the planning and implementation of all 2010 Census operations.
2. Content and Forms Design Operation - Responsible for the design and content of questionnaires and other materials in order to generate high and consistent response rates across all 2010 Census operations.
3. Security, Privacy, and Confidentiality Operations - Ensures that all 2010 Census operations adhere to the appropriate security, privacy, and confidentiality policies and regulations.
4. Field Infrastructure Support Operations - Supports all 2010 Census field data collection operations through staffing, office space and computing infrastructure deployment and support, and supply and material distribution.
5. Language Services Operations - Supports the language needs of the 2010 Census operations by translating materials to the over 40 languages targeted for 2010 Census.
6. Integrated Communications Services Operation - Responsible for educating, creating awareness and motivating persons to participate by responding to the 2010 Census.

The Establish Where to Count operational planning category includes the operations that perform activities to gather and compile the geographic and address data that make up the framework for the 2010 Census. This includes activities that create and manage the respondent data collection universes for the census data collection operations.   7. Geographic Updating and Delineation Operation - Determines, delineates, and updates the geographic area boundaries for data collection.

1. Administrative Records Updating Operation - Uses administrative records sources from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), local governments, and independent organizations to ensure the address list is as complete as possible.
2. Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Operation - Provides the opportunity for tribal, state, and local governments to review and comment on the Census Bureaus address list to ensure an accurate and complete enumeration of their communities.
3. New Construction Operation - Provides the opportunity for tribal and local governments to report newly constructed living quarters in the enumeration areas where the Census Bureau delivers questionnaires using the USPS.
4. Address Canvassing Field Operation - Collects updated living quarters addresses, geographic features, and spatial information, including the verified LUCA updates.
5. Group Quarters Validation Field Operation - Classifies Other Living Quarters as a group quarters or non-group quarters, then assigns a group quarters type code which will be utilized by other operations.
6. Update/Leave Operation - For geographic areas where mail delivery problems are anticipated, Update/Leave field operations hand deliver questionnaires to housing units and update address lists and maps if inconsistencies are found.
7. Field Verification Field Operation - Verifies the existence of respondent-provided housing unit addresses that have not been confirmed by a Census Bureau employee and also verifies potential duplicate housing units identified in Response Processing.
8. Non-ID Processing Operation - Associates census identification numbers with completed respondent-generated questionnaires that do not have a preassigned census identification number but have a respondent-provided address.
9. Geographic Data Processing Production (GDP) Operation - Maintains the MAF/TIGER® system, which is the repository for spatial and address data, and provides spatial and address products for 2010 Census operations.
10. Universe Control and Management Production Operation - Creates and manages the respondent data collection universes for census data collection operations using a database of GDP-provided census addresses and related information.

The Collect and Integrate Respondent Information operational planning category includes the operations that collect census respondent information through processing completed census forms delivered by the USPS or gathered through field enumeration activities.

1. Forms Printing and Distribution Operation-Prints all public-use forms and other materials to support the 2010 Census, including the 2010 Census questionnaire mailed to housing units on March 15, 2010.
2. Update Enumerate Operation-Updates the address list and enumerates the housing units in certain designated geographic areas with special enumeration needs. This group includes the Remote Update Enumeration and Remote Alaska operations.
3. Enumeration at Transitory Locations Field Operation-Enumerates individuals that do not have a usual home elsewhere (UHE) at housing units at transitory locations.
4. Be Counted/Questionnaire Assistance Center Operation-Provides community outreach in hard to enumerate (HTE) areas to assist persons in completing their census questionnaire.
5. Invalid Return Detection Operation-Detects potentially fraudulent returns.
6. Nonreponse Operation-Enumerates all housing units that did not respond to the mailed out census questionnaire.
7. Coverage Follow-Up Operation-A telephone operation that resolves erroneous enumerations and omissions detected from other enumeration operations.
8. Group Quarters Operation-Establishes contacts and enumerates individuals at Group Quarters locations. This operation group includes both Group Quarters Advance Visit and Group Quarters Enumeration (which itself includes Service-Based Enumeration, Military Group Enumeration, and Domestic Military/Maritime Vessels Enumeration operations).
9. Island Areas Enumeration Operation-Lists all residential and other living quarters and enumerates these units in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
10. Federally Affiliated Americans Overseas Count Operation-Obtains counts of U.S. military and federal civilian employees stationed overseas and their dependents living with them that can be allocated to a home state for the purposes of reapportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
11. Telephone Questionnaire Assistance and Fulfillment Operation-Provides assistance over the phone to 2010 Census callers.
12. Data Capture and Integration (DCI) Operation-Provides a means to capture both questionnaire data and geographic data from data collection operations and integrates them into a common set of formats for further processing.

The Provide Census Results operational planning category is concerned with the refinement of the collected census response data and dissemination of census results. Response data collected from census forms processing and field enumeration are refined and edited to produce an accurate count with complete data characteristics. These counts with characteristic data are then summarized, which removes personally identifiable information. A wide array of census products are then produced and disseminated.

1. Geographic Boundary and Districting Operation - Determines and updates the geographic area boundaries for districting and tabulation.
2. Response Processing Production Operation - Processes integrated response data provided by the DCI operation to unduplicate responses, ensure that complete information is collected, conduct statistical methods, and format data files used to produce census results.
3. Count Review Operation - Designed to enhance the accuracy of the census and provides the Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE) with the opportunity to review and provide feedback on count tabulations prior to the release of Public Law 94-171 data.
4. Data Products and Dissemination Production (DPD) Operation - Tabulates and disseminates 2010 Census products, including apportionment counts and Public Law 94-171 redistricting data. The DPD produces many data products, including state and national summary files, tabulated informational files, and data comparison tables. The DPD is responsible for printed and electronic informational products that include population and housing unit tabulations, geographical maps, and a number of data products that specifically pertain to the island areas.   The Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS) program is the primary provider of dissemination services via the Internet through the American FactFinder (AFF) system. This system was redesigned and enhanced for the 2010 Census and for dissemination of other Census Bureau data products. The DADS program is also the provider of tabulation services for the decennial census. Tabulation services refer to the activities related to aggregating data collected on individual responses to a survey or census into summarized statistical data suitable for public release. Dissemination services refer to the activities related to the internal staging and release of approved statistics for posting on the Internet. These services include the provision of interim results or output so that other areas of the Census Bureau can process and release data in different media and formats, (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD, File Transfer Protocol [FTP], Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format [PDF] for printed publications).
5. Archiving Operation - Provides 2010 Census records to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The Measure Census Coverage operational planning category includes coverage measurement operations that are separate from and independent of the census operations. They are designed to provide estimates of net coverage error and omissions and erroneous enumerations for persons in housing units and for the housing units themselves. These activities provide the needed inputs that allow census coverage to be measured. This planning category consists of the Census Coverage Measurement (CCM) program and the Demographic Analysis operation.
The focus of the CCM program is to measure the coverage error in the 2010 Census with the goal of improving future census operations. CCM produces estimates of net coverage error and estimates of the coverage error components for both housing units and persons living in housing units. Components of coverage error include omissions and erroneous enumerations (including duplicates). Measuring the coverage error of persons in group quarters and of group quarters facilities is not within the scope of the
CCM program. The CCM is a sample survey and, as is typical, is conducted separately and independently of the census operations to ensure that the coverage error estimates are unbiased.

1. CCM Sample Design Operation - Designs and implements the sample to support the estimation of coverage errors in the 2010 Census for the United States and Puerto Rico, excluding remote Alaska.
2. CCM Independent Listing Field Operation - Creates the list of CCM addresses by canvassing the selected sample block cluster areas using a paper instrument called the CCM Independent Listing Book (ILB).
3. CCM Initial Housing Unit Matching and Follow-Up Operation - Determines the reasons for differences between the housing unit addresses in the CCM sample and the initial census address list using automated computer matching, clerical matching, and in-person follow-up techniques.
4. CCM Person Interview Field Operation - Collects person and housing unit information for selected housing units in each sample block cluster by performing in-person interviews using a computer-assisted data collection instrument.
5. CCM Person Matching and Follow-Up Operation - Determines the reasons for the differences between the persons in the CCM sample and the persons in the 2010 Census using automated computer matching, clerical matching, telephone and in-person follow-up techniques.
6. CCM Final Housing Unit Matching and Follow-Up Operation - Determines the reasons for the differences between the housing unit addresses in the CCM sample and the final 2010 Census address list using automated computer matching, clerical matching, and in-person follow-up techniques.
7. CCM Estimation Operation - Produces estimates of net coverage error and the components of coverage error for housing units and persons living in housing units in the United States and Puerto Rico, excluding remote Alaska.
8. Demographic Analysis Operation - Produces independent assessments of census coverage using population and housing unit benchmarks in support of the 2010 Census and the evaluation of 2010 Census results.