Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Geography Extras

PUMA to County Widget [PDQ-Explore output]
This widget takes output from PDQ-Explore and converts PUMA-based characteristics to county-based characteristics
Link
PUMA to County Widget [American FactFinder output]
This widget takes output from American FactFinder and converts PUMA-based characteristics to county-based characteristics
Link
Mable/Geocorr Correspondence Engine [2000]
This is a geographic correspondence tool or crosswalk across various 2000 geographies such as Congressional Districts, counties, places, zip codes, census tracts, block groups, voting districts, and school districts.

Link

Class Powerpoints

Powerpoint Presentations and Guest Speakers

Below are links to the lectures presented at the workshop. On occasion, there were handouts associated with a presentation. These are listed under the presentation.

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Census, The American Community Survey and the Nation's Statistical System
Ren Farley, Population Studies Center
[ppt] [pdf]

Additional resources:
Congressional Efforts to Control the Census and the Census Bureau
Legal Decisions Relevant to Census Taking and Apportionment
Supreme Court cases relevant to the Census
Census Taking and Census Undercount: Prickly Statistical, Political and Constitutional Issues
Annotated Bibliography on Literature on the Census

The Development of the American Community Survey
Lisa Neidert, Population Studies Center
[ppt] [pdf]

Additional Resources
Link to American Community Survey Compass Products
ACS 2008 link on Class Blog
Understanding Census Geography
Lisa Neidert, Population Studies Center
[ppt] [pdf]

Introduction to ACS Summary Products (and American FactFinder)
Lisa Neidert
[Hands-on Exercise]

Additional Resources
An Introduction to Summary Products (and American FactFinder)
[shortened version of a Census Bureau presentation]
Presentation Notes
[shortened version of a Census Bureau presentation]

Additional Resources
Link to American Community Survey Compass Products
ACS 2008 link on Class Blog

The Supplemental Poverty Measure
 [http://www.census.gov/cps/data/cpstablecreator.html]
Trudi Renwick, Census Bureau

Additional Resources
New Federal Poverty Measure Explained
[YouTube]
CPS Table Creator II

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tabular or Microdata or Both or Neither
(Tabular or Microdata) or (Both or Neither)
Introduction to PDQ-Explore
Albert Anderson, PDQ
[ppt] [pdf]
PDQ Examples & Exercises
Ren Farley and Al Anderson
[See Class Exercises (Tuesday & Wednesday) for the rest of the PDQ examples]
Link to Class Exercises
Technical Issues, Mostly Statistical
Lisa Neidert
[ppt]
Additional Resources
Margins of Error, Confidence Intervals, and Significance of Difference
Margin of Error Calculator
Making an Extract of the ACS 3-year data from IPUMS
Lisa Neidert
[ppt] [pdf]
Making an Extract from the IPUMS website
From the War on Poverty to the Great Recession: Antipoverty Policies and the Future of Poverty
Sheldon Danziger, National Poverty Center
To be posted later
[To be posted later]

Other Resources
Ren Farley, Lisa Neidert, Al Anderson
[Hands-on]
[Resource]
This is a compilation of resources that supplement this workshop. It is a work in progress.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

ACS 20008

ACS Data Release Main

2009 ACS Data Release Main
This is the main site for information about the American Community Survey (ACS). The release information is organized by year, so a comparable site is available for previous years - 2007, 2006, etc.
2008 ACS Data Release Main

ACS 2008: Questions and Questionnaires

Subjects Planned for the 2010 Census and the ACS
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/operations_admin/Final_2010_Census_and_American_Community_Survey_Subjects_Notebook.pdf

This document provides the justification for the items included in the 2010 Census (short-form) and the ACS (long-form). It includes proposed new subjects, as well as the subjects that will be dropped because it is no longer required by federal agencies.
New Questions and Modifications in the ACS (2009)
Information for each of the new questions that were added to the 2009 ACS: health insurance coverage, Bachelor's field of degree, disability, marital history, and other new tables. Additionally, modifications were performed on food stamps tables and other tables.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/2009_product_changes/
Question by Question Fact Sheets
The fact sheets have ACS question(s), how long the question has been in use, a description of how the federal government uses the data and how those uses translate into community benefits.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/about_the_survey/questions_and_why_we_ask/
ACS Questionnaires
On this page are examples of the current materials mailed to the sample addresses in the housing unit (HU) sample, and examples of the current materials used in the group quarters (GQ) interviewing. Also included are the HU and GQ questionnaires from prior years, and summary documents showing the changes in the questionnaires from year to year.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/SBasics/SQuest/SQuest1.htm

ACS: Sample Size, Accuracy, Quality, Comparisons

Sample Size
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/methodology/sample_size_data/
The sample sizes for all published counties and county equivalents starting with the 2007 ACS will only be available in the B98* series of Detailed Tables on American FactFinder (AFF).
Sample size information for years prior to 2007 will remain on the ACS website and will not be added to AFF.

Accuracy of the Data
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/Accuracy/Accuracy1.htm
These documents provide data users with a basic understanding of the sample design, estimation methodology, and accuracy of the data.
Also note that there is a direct link to the Design and Methodology report (http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/survey_methodology/acs_design_methodology.pdf)

Quality of the Data
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/methodology/sample_size_and_data_quality/
These quality measures are produced annually to accompany each ACS data release and describe the quality of those data. The quality measures are available at national and state levels. Clicking on "definitions" will provide additional information on each of these measures, including why the measure is important and how it was calculated.

Guidance on Comparing ACS data to Other Sources
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/guidance_for_data_users/comparing_data/
The Census Bureau encourages users to compare ACS data with data from other sources. Guidance is needed before drawing conclusions because in some instances comparisons could be misleading due to differences in questions or methods. This page provides three forms of guidance - general guidance, item-specific guidance, and examples. For all comparisons of differing time periods, users should take into consideration that geographic boundaries for the area of interest may have changed