Untangling Community (County) Data: Valuable Resources for CD Practitioners

1. Untangling Community (County) Data:Valuable Resources for CD Practitioners Bo Beaulieu Purdue Center for Regional Development September 2013

2. What are Secondary Data? • Information sources that already exists either in published or unpublished format. • Data collected by someone else that are being “re-used” by others • In contrast, “primary data” are those that you have collected first hand • Secondary data can be either qualitative or quantitative in nature

3. Understanding Key Typologies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAbFDt3Evs

4. Are they the same? • Urban-Rural • Metropolitan-Nonmetropolitan • The urban-rural typology is based on the size of a Census-recognized town or city. • The metropolitan-nonmetropolitan classification focuses on the county as the unit of analysis.

5. Defining Urban • Urban: All territory, population, and housing units located in an Urbanized Area (UA) or an Urban Cluster (UC). • UAs generally involve a nucleus of 50,000 or more people that may or may not contain any cities of 50,000+. UCs represent areas of at least 2,500 but less than 50,000 persons.

6. Defining Rural • Rural: All territory, population, and housing units located outside an Urbanized Area (UA) and Urbanized Cluster (UC) not designated as urban. It typically represents open country and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents.

7. Defining metropolitan area Central counties with one or more UAs of 50,000 or more residents and outlying counties that are economically tied to the central counties (i.e., 25% of workers living in the outlying counties commute to the central counties, or 25% or more of the employment in the outlying counties are made up of commuters from the central counties).

8. Defining Nonmetro • Micropolitan Area: Any nonmetropolitan county with an urban cluster of at least 10,000 but not more than 49,999 persons. An outlying county is included if commuting to the central micropolitan county for employment is 25% or more, or if 25% or more of the employment in the outlying county is made up of commuters from the central county. • Noncore Area: Any nonmetro county not meeting the micropolitan designation. Contains no city, town, or urban cluster of at least 10,000 people. Includes open countryside.

11. The ERS Urban-RuralContinuum Codes METROPOLITAN COUNTIES 1 Counties in metro areas, 1 million + population 2 Counties in metro areas of 250,000 - 1 million population 3 Counties in metro areas of fewer than 250,000 population NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES 4 Urban population of 20,000+, adjacent to a metro area 5 Urban population of 20,000+, not adjacent to a metro area 6 Urban population of 2,500-19,999, adjacent to a metro area 7 Urban population of 2,500-19,999, not adj. to metro area 8 Completely rural or fewer than 2,500 population, adjacent to a metro area 9 Completely rural or fewer than 2,500 population, not adjacent to a metro area

12. Finding the Codes on the ERS Web Site Core-Based Statistical Areas http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-classifications/what-is-rural.aspx

13. Understanding the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about Secondary Data

14. The Good . . . • They already exists!! • Less expensive and less time consuming way to gather information • Allows you to quickly get a handle on current and emerging issues

15. The Good . . . • Saves you the trouble of launching a more costly primary data collection effort • May yield more accurate data than what you would obtain through primary data collection efforts (large vs. small samples) • Can help to fine tune the focus of your primary data efforts, including your audience

16. The Bad . . . Or the Ugly ! • Inconsistencies in definitions • Data may be inaccurate or incomplete; biased • Potential problems with “reliability” • Data are usually only indirect measures of the issues you are interested in • Data can be old • Interpretation of the data must be done with caution

17. Key questions you should ask • What is the source of the data? • Does it cover the correct geographical location? • Does it provide data on the audience you’re interested in? • Does it deal with the issue/topic you want to focus on? • Does it represent current data? • Are the available for the same time period? • Are definitions of the variables you’re interested in the same over time?

18. Some Good Sources of Data • Federal Government • Regional Organizations • State Agencies • Local Government • Others • Trade associations • Private sector

19. Key Federal Data Resources • U.S. Census Bureau • Main Portal • http://www.census.gov/ • Census Bureau A-Z Subjects • http://www.census.gov/main/www/a2z • Census of Agriculture • http://www.nass.usda.gov/Census_of_Agriculture/index.asp • State and Metropolitan Area Data Book • http://www.census.gov/compendia/smadb/SMADBmetro.html • American Community Survey • http://www.census.gov/acs/www/

20. Key Federal Data Resources • Economic Research Service • http://ers.usda.gov/data-products.aspx • Bureau of Economic Analysis • http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=70&step=1#reqid=70&step=1&isuri=1

21. Secondary Data Variables Of Relevance to Community/Economic Development • POPULATION • Population Size • Population Composition • Population Distribution • Migration Patterns • EDUCATION • Attainment • School Enrollment • Dropout Status • Performance Assessments • ECONOMIC • Employment Status • Income and Earnings • Poverty Status • Businesses/Firms • Labor Force Composition • Current and Future Jobs • SOCIAL • Health and Nutrition Status • Health Care Resources • Crime Rates • Housing • Food Assistance Enrollment • Child Care Access/Enrollment • LOCAL GOVERNMENT • Revenues • Expenditures

22. Okay, I’ve Found those Data. Now What? • Data analysis options: • Cross-sectional -- look at data at one point in time • Comparative -- examine the data in your county relative to other counties of interest • Longitudinal – focus on how the data change over a longer time period

23. What to Look For • Conditions that the data describe • The direction of change • The intensity of change • How your county/community compares to other similar counties/communities • The overall picture that the data paint about your county/community

24. Quick Quiz Are the following capturing cross-sectional, comparative, and/or longitudinal information?

25. Educational Status Lower Among Rural Minorities

26. Poverty Status Among Minorities

27. Percent of Workers Employed in Creative Occupations in 2000

30. Employment Composition in the Nonmetro U.S., 1969-2004 (in percent) Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Information Systems

31. Your Turn • Review the data • What information did you find most interesting? • What specific data would you want to communicate to county leaders and/or your Extension advisory committee?