Using Information from Demographic Analysis in Post-Enumeration Survey Estimation
William Bell
RR-92/04, 4/29/92
ABSTRACT
Population estimates from the Post Enumeration Survey (PES), used to measure decennial census
undercount, are based on dual system estimation (DSE), typically assuming independence within
strata defined by age-race-sex-geography. We avoid the independence assumption within strata
by using information from demographic analysis (DA) at the national level (population totals
or sex ratios) to determine some function of the individual strata 2x2 table probabilities that is
assumed constant across strata within an age-race-sex group. One candidate function is the cross-
product ratio, but other functions can be used that lead to different DSEs. We consider several
such DSEs, and use DA results for 1990 to apply them to data from the 1990 census and PES.
