RE: [CTPP] more on what the acs may or may not give us

I think that a distinction should be drawn between the ACS and the C2SS. The main purpose of the C2SS *was* to see if data could be collected. According to http://www.census.gov/c2ss/www/About/index.htm, the C2SS was "designed to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting long form type information at the same time as, but separate from, the Decennial Census." So, that survey was not designed to give results for small geographies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Keith Miller Principal Planner: GIS and Modeling North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, Inc. One Newark Center, 17th floor Newark, NJ 07102 973-639-8444 kmiller(a)njtpa.org -----Original Message----- From: owner-ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net [mailto:owner-ctpp-news@chrispy.net]On Behalf Of Laureen Brennan Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 6:26 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: RE: [CTPP] more on what the acs may or may not give us Dear Mr. Christopher: What is the purpose of the ACS, and C2SS? Is the purpose to collect data for the sake of collecting data or seeing if the data can be collected, or is the purpose to collect usable data? If it is to collect data for data's sake, then $137m a year is a waste of money. If the purpose is to collect usable data, it should be collected and distributed at a level that is usable -- blocks, block groups, TAZs. Collecting estimates at the tract level is a waste of time and money for most users. By the time you manipulate the data and try to disaggregate it, you might as well take a guess and forget about the ACS/C2SS. If Congress wants the users to base their decisions on the data collected by the ACS and/or the census, then the ACS/Census should collect data that can be used to make decisions. For instance, (just one example) how are you going to determine Title VI and Environmental Justice neighborhoods using Tract level information? We need a Secretary of Home Data. Laureen Brennan