The purpose of the Post-Enumeration Survey is to measure the accuracy of the census. The survey measures the accuracy of the census by independently surveying a sample of the population.
The U.S. Census Bureau has used post-enumeration surveys with dual system estimation to measure coverage in the Decennial Censuses of Population and Housing since 1980. This approach involves case-by-case matching of persons in an independent survey with persons in the census to determine who was missed or counted in error.
The post-enumeration survey-based coverage measurement program associated with the 2020 Census was called the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES).
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The 2020 PES was designed to support national-level and state-level estimates of census coverage.
The primary goal of the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) program was to measure coverage error in the 2020 Census such that this information could be used to improve the coverage of future censuses. Fieldwork for the 2020 PES began in January 2020 and ended in February 2022.
These documents provide an overview of and updates on the 2020 PES as well as information on our research and decisions made this decade regarding the design of the 2020 PES.