Anecdotes about Data http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/ en-us Copyright 2009 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:48:08 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.25 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Counties and Cities To the guest with whom I was just chatting: my apologies; I hit a wrong button and lost our chat. See http://factfinder.census.gov/jsp/saff/SAFFInfo.jsp?_submenuId=aboutdata_3&_pageId=geography for an explanation of what falls within counties. Most likely you'd want a file linking counties and county subdivisions. I don't recommend using zip codes as they don't directly relate to counties, as the graphic shows. Please do try to contact me again for more assistance (though I suppose email might be better this time) and I apologize for cutting off our conversation!

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2009/06/counties_and_cities.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2009/06/counties_and_cities.html Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:48:08 -0600 ICPSR Webinar: When Setup Files Go Bad...Debugging your SAS, SPSS, and STATA code so it works! You found your study...you download your data...you run the setup file ICPSR provides...and the screen fills with errors. This webinar will address common problems in the setup files provided by ICPSR for data files.

ICPSR automates its data processing and the volume of data files is large and very heterogeneous in quality, size, and characteristics. As a result, the setup files and ready-to-go files do not always work perfectly. This webinar will help you to anticipate and fix many of these common problems.

Title: ICPSR Webinar: When Setup Files Go Bad...Debugging your SAS, SPSS, and STATA code so it works!
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/765557907

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

This webinar is open to the public - please share with any who might be interested!

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2009/04/icpsr_webinar_when_setup_files.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2009/04/icpsr_webinar_when_setup_files.html Data Analysis Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:23:33 -0600 Digitized and Searchable Historical Census Bureau Publications via the Internet Archive The Internet Archive brings together the digitized government publications from lots of different projects so that you can search in one location for historical publications containing statistics. Of course, the search isn't exhaustive since not everything has been digitized, but the depth increases every day and there are materials from the Census back to at least the first decade of the 20th Century. Check it out at http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22United%20States.%20Bureau%20of%20the%20Census%22.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2009/02/digitized_and_searchable_histo.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2009/02/digitized_and_searchable_histo.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:59:03 -0600 It's All About How You Count: Follow Up The Department of Treasury has released its report on its activities resulting from the Emegency Economic Stabilization Act (P.L. 110-343) and, indeed, they are reporting what they spent as cash rather than as the "net present value" reported by the Congressional Budget Office. See Tranche Report to Congress and Tranche Report Appendices.

To sum up:

Congressional Budget Office reports $17 billion actually spent.
Dept. of the Treasury reports $115 billion actually spent.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/11/_its_all_about_how_you_count_f.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/11/_its_all_about_how_you_count_f.html Social Sciences Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:52:24 -0600 It's All About How You Count: Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) Expenditures The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its October Monthly Budget Review. If one were to skim just the tables, one would get the impression that the TARP expenditures in October were $17 billion. In the paragraph below, however, the CBO notes that

"In CBO''s view, the stock investment and associated warrants should not be recorded on a cash basis but on a net present value basis, accounting for market risk, as specified in the Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act. CBO's preliminary estimate of $17 billion for the present value cost is included in its
estimate of $134 billion for the October deficit. However, CBO anticipates that the Treasury will report
the stock purchases on a cash basis. As a result, CBO estimates that the Treasury will report the October
deficit at $232 billion."

In short, we could see radically different claims of funds spent because of different methods of reporting the dollars committed. As always, you have to pay attention whenever someone starts quoting statistics...

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/11/its_all_about_how_you_count_tr.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/11/its_all_about_how_you_count_tr.html Social Sciences Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:41:36 -0600 2008 Elections Maps of the 2008 Elections have been moved to the 2008 Elections page.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/11/2008_elections.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/11/2008_elections.html Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:19:41 -0600 Why You Should Always Ask For Proof Ars Technica has a great little article on a oft-cited figure about job losses due to intellectual property theft at http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/dodgy-digits-behind-the-war-on-piracy.ars. What they discover is that the number has (so far) no basis in reality. They were able to find a reference to the job losses in a 1986 interview with the then Secretary of the Department of Commerce. Where he got his figures remains a mystery. Yet, this number of supposed job losses is being used to justify new laws strengthening intellectual property rights. There might be good reason for the proposed law, but the "job loss" isn't one of them.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/10/why_you_should_always_ask_for.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/10/why_you_should_always_ask_for.html Social Sciences Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:32:32 -0600 Windows XP patch for 1997 Economic Census discs now available The various discs from the 1997 Economic Census, which can be checked out from the University Libraries, do not work properly in Windows XP. The Census Bureau has posted patches and instructions at http://www.census.gov/sdc/www/softwarepatch.html. No word on how they handle Vista...

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/09/windows_xp_patch_for_1997_econ.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/09/windows_xp_patch_for_1997_econ.html Social Sciences Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:58:10 -0600 Illustrata - Natural Sciences Searchable tables, figures, graphs, charts and other illustrations from the scholarly research and technical literature. Search results – the objects – can be viewed in full, in either (thumbnail or enhanced format) along with the caption, author and source information and additional index terms that can be used for further searching. A link back to the parent record provides a summary view of all the objects associated with that paper.

http://www.lib.umn.edu/get/illustrata

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/09/illustrata_natural_sciences.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/09/illustrata_natural_sciences.html eScience Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:42:59 -0600 Real Estate Database A comprehensive collection of historical real estate data. Includes Winan’s Real Estate Index of housing prices back to 1830, regional real estate price indices, national and regional new home sales and listings, and more. Choose “Real Estate Market Data� under Data Series Type in the Filter Search.

http://www.lib.umn.edu/get/realestatedatabase

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/08/real_estate_database.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/08/real_estate_database.html Social Sciences Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:26:08 -0600 U.S. Stocks Database Comprehensive current and historical coverage of stocks traded on exchanges in the United States. The database provides daily data for current US stocks back to 1970 and monthly data back to 1815. Enables you to combine the financial indicators from the United States and 200 other countries with the historical price data on over 20,000 individual current and delisted stocks.

http://www.lib.umn.edu/get/usstocksdatabase

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/08/us_stocks_database.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/08/us_stocks_database.html Social Sciences Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:23:33 -0600 Making The Best Use Of Employer, Non-Employer Data

  • Making The Best Use Of Employer, Non-Employer Data

    “Business definitions have always been tricky for researchers,” said Brian Headd, economist for the Office of Advocacy and co-author of the working paper. “It’s hard to determine what counts as a business. For instance, is there a minimum employee or revenue requirement, a length of time in business, or a contribution to owners income? He added, “Definitions are often based on convenience, such as what data is available to the researcher.”

    • ]]>     http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/08/making_the_best_use_of_employe.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/08/making_the_best_use_of_employe.html Social Sciences Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:16:54 -0600     Bureau of Labor Statistics Web Redesign and Nifty New Features The Bureau of Labor Statistics has redesigned its website and has added many useful features, of which some are highlighted here. For all new features, see http://www.bls.gov/bls/redesign2008.htm.

    1. RSS feed for latest economic indicators: http://www.bls.gov/feed/bls_latest.rss

    2. Calender of all releases with the option to subscribe via *.ical/*.ics: http://www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/

    3. Guide to Data by Geography: http://www.bls.gov/guide/geography/

    4. Tutorials: http://www.bls.gov/tutorial/home.htm

    ]]>     http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/07/bureau_of_labor_statistics_web.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/07/bureau_of_labor_statistics_web.html Social Sciences Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:55:27 -0600     MN Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board The MN Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board makes finding campaign finance data a little more complex than one might expect. The data isn't as recent as one might expect either - 12/31/2007 in most cases and most information provided is in *.pdf files. Exceptions are noted.

    Independent Expenditures - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/dyncfb/cfbsearch5.php

    Contributions Received by a Candidate - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/dyncfb/cfbsearch1.php

    Contributions Made by Individuals - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/dyncfb/cfbsearch2.php

    Contributions Received by Party Units or Political Committees - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/dyncfb/cfbsearch3.php

    Contributions Made by Party Units or Political Committees - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/dyncfb/cfbsearch4.php

    Political Party, Political Committee and Political Fund Reports - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/rptViewer/viewRptsOther.php
    On the Board home page, "Political Party Units" are listed as a separate link, but they're really a subset of the overall Political Party database.

    Candidate Report of Receipts and Expenditures - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/rptViewer/viewRptsCan.php

    Lobbyist Disbursement Reports - http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/rptViewer/viewRptsLob.php
    Data through 2008

    Public Official Lists - http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/po_lists.html
    Reports in *.html; content undated.


    ]]>     http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/07/mn_campaign_finance_and_disclo.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/07/mn_campaign_finance_and_disclo.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:38:19 -0600     State Campaign Finance Databases For information on state-level campaign finance, see Campaign Finance Databases from the State Agency Databases site.

    ]]>     http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/07/state_campaign_finance_databas.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/westx045/data/2008/07/state_campaign_finance_databas.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:41:28 -0600