Finding, Acquiring, & Preparing Census Data
Ryan Clement
Data Services Librarian
February 2021
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.
Goals
- Become familiar with four essential concepts for working with Census data
- Locate various sources of Census data
- Locate other complementary sources of large population data
A Brief Census History
Census in the Constitution
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
U.S. Const. art. I, § 2.
The Decennial Census
Text
Door-to-door Census Enumerators
Electronic Access!
The Changing Census
What happens to Census data after 72 years?
Essential Census Concepts
- Aggregate data vs. microdata
- Census geographies
- 100% data vs. sample data
- Data definitions
100% Data
- Short form census
- Most precision
- Fewest questions
Sample Data
- Census long form (2000 and before)
- American Community Survey
- Most information
- Make sure samples are comparable!
Census Geography
Aggregate
- Most common
- Tables of statistics
- Determined by government needs
- Smallest available geography: census "blocks"
Microdata
- More difficult to obtain, or work with
- Not 100% complete
- Allows innovative use
- Available at the individual respondent level
Data Definitions
Census Sources
print census records
Census Sources
historical data, microdata
Census Sources
historical data, easy access
Census Sources
quick access, current data
tidycensus in R
Complementary Data Sources
- United States
- Current Population Survey: more labor-focused, representative nationally, by state, and some metro areas
- General Social Survey: opinion survey, nationally representative sample
- CDC Data: health data, can be harder to obtain at smaller geographies or demographics
- NCES: education data
- Other countries
Wrap-up Question
What would you like to explore using Census data? What other datasets would you like to combine with Census data?
Credits
- Most images courtesy United States Census Bureau except:
- Census Geography image courtsey MIT Libraries
- Government Documents image courtesy San Jose State University Libraries
- All logos courtesy of the respective organization