More Things to See and Do On the Missouri Census Data Center Web Site

Continuing from …. Part 1 of this presentation (“Things to See and Do…”), which looked mostly at applications in the Quick Links navigation box. Part 1 of this presentation (“Things to See and Do…”), which looked mostly at applications in the Quick Links navigation box. In this part we look mostly at applications in the Navy Blue Navigation Box (NB2), which appears on the left of most MCDC web pages. Most of these links are either to special topic areas on the MCDC site, or to non-MCDC sites.

May We Strongly Suggest… That you open a browser window and go to the MCDC site at and follow along with us.

The Navy Blue Navigation Box We won’t be looking at all the links in the NB2. The box is subject to change so don’t panic if what you see is not exactly as shown here. These links tend to be to pages or sites that are very important.

Letting Mouse Hover Over a link… Displays a brief description of what the link is about / where it will be taking you. Vertical spacing separates groups of links. First link (“Home”) is traditional, but usually we provide that link at the top of our pages.

The What’s New Page Is really more about what was new. This is where we permanently store the Highlights items that appear down the middle on our home page. Stored in reverse chronological order, latest month first. Links to monthly items across top; links to earlier years across the bottom.

The About MCDC Page Tells you some stuff about who we are and what we do and why we’re supposed to. Important not-to-miss things on this page are: –The Excel files with the contact information. –Instructions for subscribing to the mcdc listserv.

Access the Data Archive This is for users who are willing and able to access the data per se. Not for everyone. For when you want something more (or less, or different) from the standard products.

The Uexplore/Dexter Home Page AKA MCDC Data Archive Home Page. 4 parts to this very long page: –Title and links to: important note, overview doc, tutorials, and xsamples. – box (bluish gray). 9 links, all to locations on this page. –Major Category Index box (bluish gray). 9 links, all to locations on this page. –Recent Updates section. –Data directory with links. Split into the 9 major categories.

Approaches to Uexplore/Dexter Hard to separate the data collection from the web tools used to access it and extract from it. Learning to use these tools is as much learning about the data / metadata as it is about learning to code a query.

Finding Data Can be very difficult unless you already know what you want and have some knowledge of what’s available. This is where using a Questions/Comments button can be the best search tool. As we have seen, sometimes an application can provide a link into dexter with the searching part already done.

From the MCDC Quick Tour Page The MCDC data archive is comprised of over 20,000 datasets with over 80 GB of data organized into approximately 60 data directories which we call filetypes. There are a number of links to overview documents and tutorials from this Uexplore home page. Following these links will provide you with background information as well as detailed instructions on using the applications, especially the data extraction module, Dexter. … Example 1: Extract Poverty Data for all Counties in Your State

A Little About Dexter Data extraction utility. User fills out a 5- section form to define the query. Sec I is trivial. Sec II (filtering rows) is by far the most complex. (But not required). Sec III is just choosing off select lists. Sec IV is easy and mostly cosmetics. Sec V is mostly more difficult than the others but is entirely optional. The on-line doc is decent and contextually-linked.

American Community Survey The ACS is by far the most important survey being taken by the Census Bureau today. It is very important in 2008, but nothing compared to what it will be starting in ( if all goes well )

Our ACS Page: mcdc2.missouri.edu/pub/data/acs/Readme.shtml It is a Readme file stored as part of our data archive. Topics include: General Information Data Release Plan Based on Size of Geographic Area Currently Available Data ACS Data Profiles PUMS Data Where to Get More Information American Community Survey Home PageAmerican Community Survey Home Page at the Census Bureau American Community Survey Home Page Ten Things to Know About the American Community Survey Ten Things to Know About the American Community Survey

Population Estimates Inter-censal estimates are a very important data source. The ACS numbers are adjusted so that they “fit” over the Bureau’s estimates at the county level. The Mo state demographer works with the Bureau in creating the estimates for Missouri.

The MCDC Estimates Page (1)

Why Estimates Can Get Complicated Different units (states, counties, places) have different methodologies for doing the estimates. Methods can change over time. Data sources can vary from state to state. Estimates can be revised based on challenges (e.g. city of St. Louis)

Why Estimates Can Get Complicated Some estimates have demographic detail (age, sex, race, hispanic) Some estimates have demographic detail (age, sex, race, hispanic) Some estimates show components of change. Some “estimates” are really projections.

The MCDC Estimates Page (2)

Choosing link at Bullet #3 Takes you to a menu page where you get to pick from a set of estimates reports and corresponding dataset links. Click on the 3 rd row, 1 st column to view pdf file report showing components of change for Mo cos.

Clicking in 2 nd Col Leads to…

Choosing 2 nd link in bullet #4 can lead to…

Selecting the Poptrends dynamic app (#5) can lead to …

Which can lead to this….

And choosing item #6 can cause …

Bullet #8 Takes You to the Projections Page

Following the Excel files link on the Projections page can lead to…

We Skip 2000 Census Link As well as Profile Products (2K). Not quite as interesting today as they were a few years ago. Earlier Censuses and Historical Population Data have relatively small but devoted followings. Geography page is important, though many of its links are now in navigation boxes.

Geography page Geographic Reference Reports is a useful links page. The PUMAs page is important because of how these are used in the ACS. ZIP page is very widely used and generates lots of queries. MAGGOT file link (not shown) is worth a look.

MCDC Mapper Is a mini-site of its own. Maintained by GRC/MsDIS, built with ArcIMS (mostly). The link at the top is the major application. The Census 2000 Geographic Base Map link is similar.

Click on Enter the Mapper Choose 2000 as the Census Choose Income as the topic and Poverty Rate as the variable to be mapped. Click the flag icon in the U-R corner of the tool bar at left to turn off reference map. You have a map of the state shaded according to % Poor, 2000 at block group level.

Navigate the Map Use the “marquee zoom” tool (magnifying glass with “+” inside) to draw a rectangle around area to zoom to. Or, use the “Select a County” drop-down on the right to zoom to a county. Zoom to Boone county, then use the zoom tool select a rectangular area south of I-70 and west of Hwy 63.

Which results in something like..

Things to See & Do on this map Use the toggle at U-R to switch between viewing the Legend vs. the Layer List. Use zoom tool to go in for a closer look at the dark red area of dire poverty around 763 north of 740 (Rangeline n. of Stadium) On the Layers list use check boxes to turn on Tract Labels, BG boundaries & labels, Street Names, Streets & Roads. Do you know where you are? Who are all these poor people?

More things to see & do on map Make Block Group Boundaries the Active layer by clicking the circular ckbox. Grab the View Tabular Data tool (finger pointing to page) and then click inside one of the poorer areas of the map. A window pops up (turn off pop-up blocker) with our Application Links page. Click on the dp3_2k link. Per report, can you tell who lives here?

Things to See & Do Elsewhere Follow these links for really good stuff, even if it’s not part of the MCDC site. Good web sites almost always provide links to other good web sites. These sites are really good.

OSEDA Web Site There is overlap between the MCDC & OSEDA sites because of shared personnel. More data analysis here. Check out the “SEIR”s (Social and Economic Information Resources). County Social & Economic Indicators Under Staff you can see my picture.

MERIC Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. (Part of Mo DED.) Best source of state-wide economic data Economic Indicators tab our favorite –Includes LED (Local Employment Dynamics) Regional Information is also popular.

Census Bureau & AFF American FactFinder appears in both of our navigation boxes. It is the most important web site ever for data junkies. The Census Bureau site has won lots of awards and deserves them. AFF is part of the Bureau site, of course. Only weakness is their lack of links to anything not on their own site.

With One Exception (from AFF main page)

Index & Search Tools The A to Z Index can be very helpful but needs work. Each letter entry ends with link to the Bureau index. Google search is relatively new (’07). Searches MCDC and OSEDA sites.

Most MCDC web pages end the same way With boilerplate links to our parent agencies. With an invitation to submit your questions or comments. (The name varies; it’s an link) We always read and consider comments. And we always try to answer questions. Don’t by shy.

More Things to See and Do… Is done. Thank you. Contact at