One of four projects conducted by the American Statistical Association (ASA) in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census, the conference explored the most important and fruitful research and development topics within the user-oriented software domain. Its objectives were to (1) develop recommendations on mechanisms to improve access to and use of…

Six articles discuss the 1987 Economic Censuses: a historical review by Bohme; Worden on the value of economic censuses; Wikoff and Powell-Hill on planning the questionnaire; Blum, Bowman, and Sullivan on changing data needs; Zeisset on the data's availability to users; and Schlueter, Ray, and Hartz on international economic statistics. (EM)

Seven articles by members of the Bureau of the Census discuss various aspects of the census process and uses of census figures. Areas which are discussed include the historical basis of the census; automation of the census process; access to census information and confidentiality; and census taking in developing nations. (CLB)