The Continuous Count Study research focuses on how we can use and expand the source of administrative records data to produce population and other estimates on an ongoing basis. This continuous measurement research seeks to improve coverage and quality some of the Bureau’s key estimates by:

• generating lower-level geographic and demographic characteristic estimates throughout the decade,
  
• filling the data gaps of households not counted, especially among historically undercounted populations,
• establishing a baseline for the feasibility of using administrative records to supplement self-response, and
• improving other counting operations, such as imputation.

The study builds on findings from the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey, which found that the accuracy of administrative records from sources like the Social Security Administration often exceeded that of proxy answers provided by neighbors and landlords when households had not responded. The Continuous Count Study is one of several initiatives inspired by the vision of a re-engineered, 21st-century Census Bureau described by Director Rob Santos in a 2023 blog.

The U.S. is not alone in exploring the potential of administrative records to modernize and improve national statistics. Other national statistical agencies, including those in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, are also evaluating this potential. 

As with all our work, we are conducting this research within the bounds of the strict legal mandates and requirements that ensure the safety and confidentiality of respondent data. 

This study has two parts:

• Quantifying the Utility and Availability of Administrative Data:  Building on the use of administrative records in the 2020 Census and the 2020 Real Time Administrative Record Census evaluation, the research leverages the Census Bureau's Demographic Frame that has person, address and characteristic information from past Census, administrative, and third-party sources.  This research is producing annual estimates from available sources.
• Developing methodologies to generate alternative population estimates that can be used to assess the quality of the administrative record results. This research includes small-area methods similar to those used by the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Program (SAIPE); capture-recapture estimation, and enhancements to the cohort component method that produces our population estimates.

The following infographic provides a high-level overview of the Continuous Count Study and three other administrative data-based population estimate projects at the U.S. Census Bureau.  Learn more about these projects through the "Related Information" tab, above.