New subject: [CTPP] Census/ACS data downloads

17 Feb 2012

Ms. Gemignani:

Thanks for the tips with AFF2. I tried, but failed. I'll share this with the
list serve because it may be instructive to others. I'm probably missing
something simple, but this may help reveal the (multiple) fallacies of AFF2.

After selecting the county geography, I did as you said in the message
below: I typed in "labor force age sex." This was great. I got a long list
of 2010 ACS tables, but at least they resembled what I'm looking for. Then I
typed in "2000 SF3" and got: "No tables, files or documents were found
that
match . blah blah."

What am I doing wrong here? When I try scrolling through the multiple pages
of results, I go through two pages of 2010 ACS. Then I run into 2009 ACS.
How many dozens of pages must I scroll through to get Census 2000?

I also can't help but use this as commentary on AFF2. I'm a data user with
years of experience and training. If I can't easily find what I need, what
hope does the general public have? Very little of Census 2000 is available
in printed form. Will it become the "dark age" Census, that nobody can get
to?

Again, thanks for taking the time. I would like nothing more than to be able
to make full use of AFF2.

Jonathan Lupton

From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net]
On Behalf Of Gemignani, Nancy
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 1:22 PM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: Re: [CTPP] Census/ACS data downloads

Jonathan,  Sounds like you have found the table and have a simple geography
(counties).  I would have downloaded the table as a csv file and open it in
excel.   Manipulate it there to remove the variables you don't want and calc
the LFPR.   

Are you looking for something that will extract the exact cells (total pop
and in LF) you need?   You could use the "modify table" function in AFF but
I agree - at this time that is kinda clunky and slow - because you can only
make one change at a time.   But to me AFF to Excel is much faster than
DataFerrett for pulling a table for multiple geographies.   I guess it is
just what you are comfortable with. 

Using the info, Mara Kaminowitz from Baltimore sent out earlier this month,
once you know the specific table you want, you can construct a direct link
like this one which will pull table PCT 35 from 2000 SF3 for Arkansas
statewide and all its counties:

http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/00_SF3/PCT035/0400000US0
5.05000|0400000US05 

BTW - this table is also available by race as table PCT079 in SF4.  Its link
to the data for Hispanics would look like this:

http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/00_SF4/PCT079/0400000US0
5.05000|0400000US05/popgroup~400 

I have found that that the text search feature has greatly improved in AFF2.
I typed "labor force age sex" (219 results) then selected 2000 SF3  (1
result).  Now pick your geography.  A handful of clicks got me to the data.
If you are not familiar with the tables in the census data files, the search
is actually improving into a useful tool.   

Nancy Gemignani

California State Census Data Center

Demographic Research Unit

(916) 327-0103 ext 2550 

From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net]
On Behalf Of Jonathan Lupton
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 8:41 AM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: [CTPP] Census/ACS data downloads

I much appreciate the efforts by Elaine Murakami and others to help with the
AFF2 problem by providing the recent webinars in AFF2 and Data Ferret. I
must reluctantly confess that I am still struggling, and would like to know
how other members on the CTPP list serve are faring. Here are my conclusions
at the moment:

1.       AFF2 is useful for obtaining pre-organized data profiles (despite
its clunky and counter-intuitive interface), but in my experience it's still
hard - even with the benefit of some training - to really drill down into
the kind of esoteric data I sometimes need.

2.       Data Ferret is great for batches, like downloading a fair amount of
data for multiple geographies (like all BGs in a county, etc.) but I'm
having a hard time drilling down to the highly specific items I need.

My latest troubles involve trying to get employment/labor force
participation by age and sex for counties and/or my metro area from SF-3 in
Census 2000. I have been able, with the help of Data Ferret, to obtain the
table numbers (PCT 3500-PCT 3518), but Data Ferret can't seem to give me the
figures I need in a single download, and multiple downloads are proving
error-prone and troublesome. Searching the table numbers in AFF2 yields the
typically useless results. My search of the Missouri State Data Center site,
while much appreciated, hasn't yielded the results I need. My own State Data
Center (Arkansas) has some useful profiles, but again not as specific as I
need.

Does anyone else have tips? 

I feel like I could use further webinars on Data Ferret or - just possibly -
AFF2, although I'm deeply suspicious of trying to make anything useful out
of AFF2, since results so far have been disappointing. The seminar on Data
Ferret back in December was helpful, but didn't have a lot of in-depth
training on large downloads, highly specific data needs, etc.

I'm deep in 'flyover country,' and hence there's a lack of training
and
information exchange available. Surely others face the same issues. Does
anyone else want more web-based training, too?

Jonathan Lupton AICP

Research Planner

Metroplan

Little Rock, Arkansas