Inspection lacks truth

The census is one of the most important activities American residents can participate in, but it is certainly not a reliable survey for the measurement of population growth or resource allocation.

As far as the country's population is concerned, while the survey is mailed to every house, and community counting centers are established for attendance and encouragement, there will always be large groups of people not tallied.

Under the "How It Affects the Nation," section of the 2010 census Web site, the bureau states, "Participation isn't just important — it's mandatory." But in reality the census is still completely voluntary, and there will always be an underrepresented percentage of people regardless of age, race or domestic relationship.

There are so many constituency groups that are not even accounted for in the survey.

For example, since the last nationwide census in 2000, ex-president George W. Bush established a policy that barred the count of same-sex couples, whether in a domestic relationship or marriage. It is only during this decennial account and the Obama administration that th policy was reversed to consider these growing families and communities in the country.

By government budget, determined by participant population, more than $400 billion goes into the country's infrastructure based on the U.S. Census Bureau's data, but the federal government has ultimate say over the questionable importance of the head count.

And though the census may be crucial for allocation and determining congressional seats, there is also no way of determining the absolute population to supply adequate funds for particular areas of this country. Nor is there a way to tally past the approximation to which states depend.

Even with aid of census counters for accuracy's sake, they are lied to during interviews, and there is no telling how truthful participants actually are. There is no way to accurately record the number of people per household without conducting a full, physical inspection of each home and facility, which further pushes the feeling of infringement on privacy that the survey already exhibits.

Privacy issues include the fact that undocumented immigrants live in certain homes. Many choose to remain uncounted for, for fear of possibly being reported to Homeland Security by the U.S. Census Bureau. This leads to perhaps the biggest reason for the unreliability of the census — the truth.

There is no way to fully inspect a particular person's actual ethnic background, age or even sex.

Additionally, many census forms are not fully completed, and it is unknown to the public what is done with such forms. Additionally, there are also a certain number of surveys that are lost or simply thrown out, leaving a portion, regardless of size, uncounted.

With each participant's form, the bureau will also certainly not take the time to inquire about the ambiguity of millions of responses that would be much easier to just omit.

People have every right to refuse taking the census.

With that being said, it is not a reliable source for an actual poll of the country's population, nor is it a fair representation for government funding.

Brent Bainto is social media editor of The Advocate. Contact him at bbainto.advocate@gmail.com