What’s Trending
at the
Census Bureau?
Oregon SDC Affiliates Meeting
November 29, 2012
Salem
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2010 Census Release Schedule:
Revised
• Due to resource limitations and competing
priorities
– Congressional District Summary File (113th
Congress)
• Now Jun 2013 (from Jan 2013)
– Public Use Microdata (PUMS) Sample Files
• Now Mar - Jun 2013 (from Dec – Apr 2013)
• Schedule linked from AFF main page
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American Community Survey
• First-time internet response option
• New and revised questions 2013
– Computer ownership / internet access (new)
– Parental place of birth (new)
– Food stamps/SNAP
– Veterans identification / period of service
– Public assistance income
– Wages / salary
– Interest / dividends
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Economic Census 2012
• Data collection schedule
– Dec 2012: Forms mailed to most companies
– Feb 12, 2013: Due date
– Mar–June 2013: Awareness campaign
– Oct 2013: Closeout of collection activities
• Data publication schedule
– Dec 2013: Advance report
– 2014–2016: Other reports
• Census.gov/econ/census12
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EEO File Release
• External benchmark for conducting
comparisons between a workforce and
available labor market
– Begun in 1970 and updated every 10 years
– 2010 Release: Thursday, Nov 29, 2012
– Easy access: Type EEO files in Quick Start
text box (AFF Main tab)
• Used to develop / update Affirmative Action
Plans
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Statistical Abstract
• Published since 1878 by the Census
Bureau
• Discontinued as of the 2012 version
• Will now be published by ProQuest
– Electronic and microfilm publisher
– Provides archives and aggregated databases
– Content accessed most commonly through
library databases
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Tech Talk: ACS.R (v0.8) Software
(R is an open-source, language/platform)
• General toolkit for downloading, managing,
and analyzing data from the ACS
– Confidence intervals provided with the data
converted to standard errors
– Package provides new methods to conduct
standard operations and tests of statistical
significance
http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/acs/index.html
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Tech Talk: Alteryx
2010 Census Data Engine
• 2000 data engine (Allocate) a breakthrough
in terms of data compression and speed
• 2010 version (Alteryx)
– Higher compression algorithm
– Faster decompression / display of the data
– Ability to filter geographies prior to a query
• Census.gov/support/2010CensusDataEngine.html
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Tech Talk: DataFerrett
• Web-based analytical tool
– Online data integration
– Web-based data-driven visualizations
• Datasets include survey data not on AFF
• Two types of datasets
– Microdata (PUMS)
– Aggregate data
• Tutorials and QuickTour available
• dataferrett.census.gov
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Tech Talk: Mobile App
• America’s Economy
– 16 key monthly/quarterly government statistics
• Bureau of Economic Analysis
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Census Bureau
• More mobile apps in the works
• Accessed through homepage slider
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Tech Talk: American FactFinder
Enhancements
• Release 6 to address user feedback
– Quick and easy access to Census data
– Enhanced text search and simplified
geography selection
– Step-by-step guide to find Census data
– Due January 2013
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Workshop Information
and
Data Questions
Linda Clark
Data Dissemination Specialist
Pacific Northwest & Alaska
U.S. Census Bureau
Los Angeles Region
linda.clark@census.gov
Mobile: 206-446-8794
Los Angeles Regional Office
818-267-1725
or
888-806-6389 (toll-free )
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