Anecdotes about Data http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/ en-us Copyright 2012 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:23:31 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.31-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Census Data & Zip Codes The Census Bureau does not publish data by Zip Code. Zip Codes are mail delivery codes created at and for the convenience of the U.S. Postal Service. Zip Codes are not consistent geographic units and the Census Bureau has to have consistency in a geographic unit in order to create meaningful statistics.

However, the Census Bureau did create "Zip Code Tabulation Areas" for Census 2000 which approximate real Zip Codes. Data from Census 2010 will eventually be available at the ZCTA level too, but the American Community Survey will not. As the American Community Survey is now the only source of nationwide socio-economic statistics for small geographic areas, this means users who need data organized by Zip Code will need to look elsewhere.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2011/03/census_data_zip_codes.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2011/03/census_data_zip_codes.html Census 2010 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:23:31 -0600 What Data Can I Expect to Get from the 2010 Census? With the development of the American Community Survey over the last decade, the 2010 Census was much, much shorter than in 2000 or indeed any previous Census except for 1790.

In 2010, there were only 10 questions covering:

  • how many people live here
  • how old they are
  • what sex they are
  • how they are related
  • how they define their race
  • how they define their ethnicity
  • whether their home is owned, rented, or no payment required
  • whether the people in this house sometimes live elsewhere (college, nursing homes, prison, military, etc)

For recent data on any other socio-economic topics, users must now use the American Community Survey.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2011/03/what_data_can_i_expect_to_get.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2011/03/what_data_can_i_expect_to_get.html Social Sciences Tue, 22 Mar 2011 12:10:30 -0600