FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1997 Public Information Office CB97-155 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Edward Montfort 301-763-8551 Census Bureau-HUD Survey to Gather Important Information on Housing Data on the characteristics of the nation's housing units and their occupants, including number, type and cost of housing, services and utilities, will be collected from late August through November when the Commerce Department's Census Bureau conducts the biennial American Housing Survey (AHS) for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For the first time, the field representatives will gather the data by electronic means only, using computer-assisted interviewing technology, which improves the data's quality. "Households that participate in the AHS have the opportunity to provide data that will be used to determine federal housing policy," said Census Bureau Director Martha Farnsworth Riche. The data collected in AHS's nationwide sample of about 55,000 housing units are confidential by law. They will be used to compile statistical summaries in which no person or housing unit is identified. The electronic interviewing technique permits interviewers to collect data using laptop computers when they visit or telephone the household in a sample housing unit. (If a unit is not occupied, they obtain information from landlords, rental agents or neighbors.) Results from the AHS will be released next year.-X-The Census Bureau--pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In over 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
