Supplementary Questions on 1940 Census

[rp76226]

What was the purpose of supplementary questions on the 1940 census. Especially confusing was the K to Z for office use only section of these questions found at the bottom of the survey for a couple of people. I would attach an example, but it is over 9 MB or more than 3 times larger than this website accepts at attachments. I don't understand why a simple download of an American census document would exceed the capacity for attachments on this website. I have no control of the file size.

[darkerhorse]

It's additional information from a sample of about 5% (instead of collecting the additional information on everyone).

The Bureau could then inflate the sample answers to estimate figures for the total population.

[rp76226]

Thank you.

[ableprudence]

That a simple download of an American census record would cause an error because the maximum attachment size has been reached is beyond my comprehension. The size of the file is out of my hands. An additional 5% of data is included here. (instead of asking everyone to fill out those extra forms). The Bureau might then use the sample to generalize to the whole population.

[Renny12]

The purpose was to obtain additional information about the country's population in order to improve the planning of social and economic programs. This data from section K to Z was used to analyze and plan various programs, such as social assistance, health care, and education.