ATLANTA — 11Alive is committed to getting you the facts, so we verify posts making the rounds on social media or just questions sent to us by viewers.
Margaret Zeolla recently sent us an email asking, about an email and text message she received that appeared to be from U.S Census Bureau asking her to take a coronavirus survey. She wanted to know if this was legitimate.
11Alive was able to verify if the messages were real. Here is what the VERIFY team found.
QUESTION
Is the U.S. Census Bureau contacting some residents through email asking them to participate in a COVID survey?
ANSWER
Yes. They are conducting a survey called the Household Pulse Survey. It asks about the impacts of the virus on households
WHAT WE FOUND
Our sources are the U.S. Constitution, a spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau, and their government website.
For decades representatives from the bureau have gone door-to-door collecting data from households. Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution mandates it must be done every 10 years.
The data collected determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and also to distribute federal funds to local communities.
But what about gathering data concerning your family through your email?
We checked with the Atlanta Regional Census Center and Will Powell, a media specialist, said the surveys are legit.
"Yes, we are conducting a survey called the Household Pulse Survey that asks about the impact of the coronavirus on your household. Households may be invited via email and/or text to participate," Powell explained.
According to their website, they used the Pulse survey to contact more than 1 million households across the country from October to December last year.
They wanted to know how the pandemic is affecting the mental health of Americans.
So yes, we can verify the U.S. Census Bureau has contacted some residents through email asking them to participate in a coronavirus survey.
To find more about how to verify an email or text message about the survey, visit the Census Bureau's website.
11Alive's Verify team is here to fact-check claims being shared in the community and online. Fill out the form below with something you'd like us to Verify.