Presents a method for estimating the total national number of doubly missing people (missing from Census counts and adjusted counts as well) and their distribution by race and sex. Application to the 1990 U.S. Census yields an estimate of three million doubly-missing people. (SLD)

A benefit-cost analysis of the 1970 census emphasizes the allocative uses of data. Precedents for evaluating the production, analysis and dissemination of forecasts and projections, data used for determining allocations, and physical monitoring data are discussed. Benefit-cost analysis' greatest potential value may be for social monitoring data.…

These seven articles focus on Shelter and Street Night, a recent Census Bureau effort to include components of the nation's homeless population in the 1990 census count. The success of investigators in Chicago (Illinois), New York City, Los Angeles (California), Phoenix (Arizona), and New Orleans (Louisiana) is analyzed. (SLD)

Argues that the loss-function analysis used to adjust the census of 1990 depends on estimating probable errors in census and adjustment and that data from field-validation projects does not provide estimates accurate enough for the purpose. The loss-function analysis is actually driven by assumptions, not data. (SLD)

Issues demographic experts face concerning voting rights litigation are considered, using examples from Garza v County of Los Angeles (California) (1990). Errors and the age of census figures when released mean that court decisions about appropriate population bases and thresholds will continue to vary from one location to another. (SLD)

Advocates of the use of ecological regression as an indicator of ethnic voting behavior have not demonstrated its validity. The neighborhood model, which assumes that within each precinct Hispanic Americans and non-Hispanic Americans vote alike, is supported as a better way to draw conclusions about voting behavior. (SLD)

Techniques for adjusting census figures are discussed, with a focus on sampling error, uncertainty of estimates resulting from the luck of sample choice. Computer simulations illustrate the ways in which the smoothing algorithm may make adjustments less, rather than more, accurate. (SLD)

Statistical analysis of racially polarized voting prepared for the Garza v County of Los Angeles (California) (1990) voting rights case is reviewed to demonstrate that ecological regression is a flexible, robust technique that illuminates the reality of ethnic voting, and superior to the neighborhood model supported by the defendants. (SLD)

Issues surrounding a recent voting rights case in Los Angeles (California) are discussed and evaluated in this introduction to the remainder of this special issue. The most important issues are geographical compactness, political cohesiveness, and racial voting blocs. (SLD)

The use of ecological regression in voting rights cases is discussed in the context of a lawsuit against Los Angeles County (California) in 1990. Ecological regression assumes that systematic voting differences between precincts are explained by ethnic differences. An alternative neighborhood model is shown to lead to different conclusions. (SLD)

D. Freedman and others and W. Clark and P. Morrison misunderstand case law in the voting rights area and have unrealistic standards of precision that, if adopted, would make it virtually impossible for minority plaintiffs to succeed. Ecological regression, when used with care, is a reliable tool. (SLD)

How technical demographic analysis can inform and confuse judicial considerations of voting rights principles is illustrated in a review of a 1990 case brought against Los Angeles County (California). A postscripted article considers whether the court involved should rely on after-census estimates for redistricting. (SLD)

Claims that hazardous waste facilities are more likely to be located in areas with higher than average proportions of minorities and examines the issue using census-level data from a national study. No consistent statistical evidence is found for such claims, although previous claims are shown to be based on larger areas. (SLD)