LIS4362 Notes: More on Census Research
American FactFinder - A brief guide
1. Set geography first - this will limit the tables available at the level of granularity you select
2. You can search by address to get the data sets available within that area, or select a geographic type from the List tab. Your goal is see your selection in the upper left corner under "Your Selections."
3. Use Topics to select your tables. I recommend starting in either People, Housing, or Dataset. If the dataset you want (such as ACS) is not visible, it is because your geography select does not have that degree of granularity. That's why you should select geography first.
Interesting article: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Government-Online.aspx?r=1
Currency vs. Granularity in Census Statistics
If you want currency of census data, you won't get granularity; if you want granularity, you won't get currency.
To bridge the currency gap there are several census programs:
Population Estimates - Present and past estimates
Population Projections - Future estimates
American Community Survey - Replaces the "long form" and SF3 & SF4. It is a "rolling census".
More about the ACS: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/SBasics/desgn_meth.htm
Current Population Reports - household sampling on special topics
As for granularity, nothing beats the decennial censuses
Ther are commercial sources that extrapoloate data. These are not real numbers, but educated gueses.
Zip Codes vs. Census Tracts
See: http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/zipstats.html
Zip codes are what the common person understands. Business people will want data by zip codes. But social scientists should want the data by census tract. This allows for longitudinal study of an area over time. The zip code breakdowns are not exact, but are best guesses as to overlay of zip code boundaries with census tract boundaries.
American Factfinder Quick Tips
Begin You Search in "Data Sets"
Almost Always Use "Detailed Tables"
Select "Show All Geographic Types"
"Clear All Selections" Before Doing another Search
Other Census Tools
County Business Patterns: http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/index.html
Thematic Maps (through AFF)
Economic Census
Profiles U.S. national and local economies every five years, on the 2s and 7s. http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/ If you get lost, I recommend the video on this Web page.
The complete 1997 and 2002 Economic Censuses are available via American Factfinder. The 2007 Economic Census is being released
County Business Patterns: http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/index.html
Augments the Economic Census with annual county level data.
Third Party Census Tools
Social Explorer: http://0-socialexplorer.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/
Requires a subscription. Interface is patterned after American Factfinder. Provides access to cenus reports and maps from the first census (1790) to current.
ICPSR Direct: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research: http://0-webapp.icpsr.umich.edu.bianca.penlib.du.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/
Data archive hosted at the University of Michigan. Provides access to numerous historic data sets in SAS and/or SPSS formats for advanced data analysis.