Eighty-five letters appeared in New York City newspapers in 1787 and 1788, with the purpose of drawing support in the state for the newly drafted Constitution. Collectively, these letters are known as The Federalist.
Read Number 54 of The Federalist, in which the author (widely thought to be James Madison) discusses using a population census to apportion elected representatives and taxes among the states. This article explains part of Article I, Section II of the United States Constitution.
Write a short paper discussing Madison’s view of a population census. What is the target population and sampling frame? What sources of bias does Madison mention, and how does he propose to reduce bias? What is your reaction to Madison’s plan, from a statistical point of view? Where do you think Madison would stand today on the issue of using sampling versus complete enumeration to obtain population estimates?