May 14, 2006 – When someone carrying University of the Virgin Islands identification knocks at the door, the university hopes residents will provide answers to its housing and population survey.
The university's Eastern Caribbean Center will begin its V.I. Community Survey Sunday or Monday. The survey will continue through July.
Frank Mills, director of the Eastern Caribbean Center, said those doing the interviews will carry a canvas bag and picture identification to indicate their official status. Mills added that information gathered in the survey is confidential.
He said the survey is a follow-up to the one conducted in 2005 that collected information similar to that gathered in the 2000 census. He said the university has done the surveys every year since 2001.
"When processed, VICS 2006 will provide data for government and private-sector individuals whose jobs are to organize and plan for the social, educational, health, economic, and other needs of the community," Mills said.
He said that, for example, someone might need to know how many elderly people live on St. Croix. The Community Survey will be able to provide this information.
Mills said the information is also used by agencies asking for federal grants. "How many youths are there on a given island, for example," he said.
He said the numbers obtained in the survey are then extrapolated to provide statistical data for the entire population.
Mills noted the housing part of the survey includes questions about the number of rooms, utilities, ownership, and rent. Population questions cover items such as age, sex, education, ethnic origin, employment, veteran status and disability.
Mills said that unlike a census, the Community Survey is a sample survey. Therefore, not all households will be interviewed.
He said that interviewers will visit a total of 2,400 households across the territory. That number includes 125 St. John households, with the rest evenly split between St. Thomas and St. Croix. The households to be surveyed are randomly identified using statistical methods.
He said that because it's so difficult to locate specific addresses in the Virgin Islands, interviewers will use Global Positioning System equipment.
Mills said that if the territory had a "rational" address system instead of one based on plot numbers, the territory could be included in the federally-funded American Community Survey. This means the federal government would pay for surveys such as the one currently getting underway.
He said that additionally, it would make it easier for ambulances, fire fighters and police to locate houses.
He said the current system worked when the territory only had 30,000 residents, but huge population increases call for modern address systems.
Mills said that the 2004 Community Survey, the latest data available, shows that the territory now has 111,439 residents. This breaks down to 54,629 on St. Thomas, 52,523 on St. Croix and 4,307 on St. John.
He said that efforts to modernize the address system haven't gotten far. He said several years ago, he went to St. Croix to testify at a Legislature committee meeting on the subject, but most of the senators on the committee failed to show up.
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