INFO 7470 - Social and Economic Data
@ Cornell VirtualRDC

• The object of this lab is to familiarize you with the variables contained in two household surveys: American Community Survey and Current Population Survey. The IPUMS website does an excellent job of presenting documentation regarding the public use versions of these surveys and for accessing the microdata records.
• Go to www.ipums.org
• American Community Survey
  • Select the link to IPUMS-USA that takes you to the integrated files for the decennial census and the American Community Survey for multiple years. You are looking for variables that are included in the American Community Survey for 2009.
  • Under the heading DOCUMENTATION select the link to Variables. The variables are grouped by topic and not all are contained in the 2009 ACS. They are broken out by Household and Person records. Select a topic of interest to you and scroll across to see which of the variables are included in the 2009 ACS.
  • Familiarize yourself with the variable by selecting the links associated with the variable name and codes.
• Go to cps.ipums.org/cps/
• Current Population Survey
  • Navigate to the IPUMS-CPS page which takes you to the integrated files for the March Current Population Survey for multiple years.
  • Under the heading DOCUMENTATION select the link to Documentation and then to Variables. The variables are broken out by Household and Person records. Select the same type of record that you selected for the ACS and see if the same or similar topic is available and select it. The years of the CPS are presented with the most recent for 2010 listed first and then earlier years are to the right.
  • Familiarize yourself with the variable by selecting the links associated with the variable name and codes.
  • You may need to go back and forth between the ACS and the CPS to find similar variables included in both surveys that are of interest to you.
• Write-up
  • Use this template.
  • Write up a description of the variables related to your topic of interest and how they are presented in the data files. Compare their relative advantages and weaknesses with respect to timeliness, geographic detail, and conceptual fit to your topic.

Submissions are made on the Course Management Site. The documents can be submitted here. Due date: March 29, 2011, 3:59PM (Note: the site is used only for submissions, not for the other functionality you will find there.)