Garrett Harper's Blog  RSS feed  What Can We Learn From Census
Data?  by Garrett Harper | Jul 19, 2011 The U.S. Census is one
of the marvels our Founding Fathers bestowed on our nation. The
U.S. has unfailingly carried out the endeavor since 1790, when
it was first enshrined by the Constitution as the means for
establishing data for decennial redistricting. The 20th century,
in particular, saw much expansion in the role and scope of data
collection by the Bureau of the Census. Currently, many citizens
are wondering when the 2010 data are going to be released. This
time around, the answer may require a little more explanation.
Over the past decade, the Census Bureau has inaugurated the
American Community Survey. The survey is designed to fulfill
much of the sample-driven activity that was achieved through the
familiar “long form” that previously went only to some
households. In other words, for most practical purposes, we now
have virtually an annual version of Census data. Data from the
2009 survey are curre