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American FactFinder. Eric Guthrie. What is it and how do I get there?. It is the data retrieval tool available to the public that allows anyone to obtain data from US Census products form 2000 and later. http://factfinder2.census.gov /. Quick Facts. Convenient, Basic Data.
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AmericanFactFinder Eric Guthrie
What is it and how do I get there? • It is the data retrieval tool available to the public that allows anyone to obtain data from US Census products form 2000 and later. http://factfinder2.census.gov/
Step One…Geography An important question to ask yourself is “At what geographic level do I require the data?” Nation Region State County County Subdivision Township ZIP Code Place (City, Town, CDP) Tract Congressional District Block Group Block How do I do that?
Really Small Geographies Few will need this level of detail, but if you do, here is where you can find the maps of the small geographies, i.e. tracts, block groups, and blocks. 2010 South Dakota Tracts 2010 South Dakota Blocks http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/ 2000 South Dakota Tracts 2000 South Dakota Blocks
Tract, Block Groups and Blocks Small units of geography. In places they are literally as small as blocks, as an area gets more rural, they become larger, but are still the smallest units available http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/
Step Two…Data Set Decennial Census 2010 2000 American Community Survey 1 – Year Estimates (2005-11) 3 – Year Estimates (2007-11) 5 – Year Estimates (2009-11) Variety of Other Data Sets including Business Patterns, Economic Census, and others
Step Three…Topic This is probably the first thing that most people think of when they are planning the data search, but your selections in the first and second steps really make a difference in what topics you can explore.
Data Definitions and Methodology Terms: http://www.census.gov/main/www/glossary.html Methods: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/methodology/methodology_main/ (ACS) http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/2010-background-crs.pdf (2010 Decennial)
The Instruments 2010 Decennial Census Form American Community Survey
Exercise Lets get some data! Let’s find a few things and see how this comes together. Items to find: • Median age for Minnehaha county for 2011 • Number of females over 18 in Box Elder in 2010 • Persons below the poverty line in McPherson County in 2011
What was that order again? • Geography • Data Set • Topic
Answers • Median age for Minnehaha county for 2011 34.8 (+/- 0.1) • Number of females 18 and over in Box Elder in 2010 2,474 • Per Capita Income in McPherson County in 2011 • $19,879 (+/- $1,457)
Exercise for credit Students • Pick three pieces of data that would be important to you and/or your work and find them for your community, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City (if your community is Rapid City or Sioux Falls, pick any third community) • Get these data for from the 2010 Decennial Census and the 2011 Community Survey • Send your responses to Mike at: Michael.McCurry@sdstate.edu
Thank you Remember, we are here to help. Let us know if we can be of assistance to you with your data needs. Eric Guthrie South Dakota State University Rural Life and Census Data Center