[CTPP] CTPP webinar on using IPUMS to analyze ACS PUMS

We are hosting a short session to train users on using the Minnesota Population Center IPUMS . http://usa.ipums.org/usa/ The IPUMS project provides a user-friendly approach to using decennial Census and ACS Public User Microdata Samples (PUMS) including the newest 2005-2007 ACS file and the Census 2000, and many older decennial census files. These microdata samples are a portion of the full individual records and include all the variables. The data are NOT pre-tabulated. If you need a quick tabulation that is not included in a CTPP or a standard Census file like Summary File 3, or the American FactFinder, then using the microdata may be a solution for you. The PUMS are restricted to larger geographic units (Public Use Microdata Area) to protect individual confidentiality. For example, Nathan Erlbaum from New York State recently wanted to know the the impact of group quarters population on bicycle commuting. I ran a table using Census 2000 (includes group quarters) and 2005 ACS (excludes group quarters). Probably I should have compared 2005 ACS to 2006 ACS! By the way, the answer was that group quarters had a large effect on walking for the mode to work, and not much difference on bicycling. You do not need to have statistical software installed on your PC. The SDA program in IPUMS can run simple tabulations, regressions, and logit models. We will learn basic techniques to select rows and columns, filtering (subsetting), re-grouping variable classifications (very important for continuous variables like travel time, departure time, age, income) and even try a simple regression. The on-line software cannot do as sophisticated variable processing as a system like SAS or S+, but it can provide analysts with a quick way to examine basic patterns that can be used to design more sophisticated analyses. DATE: April 16, 2009 Thursday TIME: 1 - 2:30 p.m. Eastern Pre-registration is required: http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/webconference/web_conf_learner_reg.as… I have reserved 65 slots. Hope to see you there! IPUMS for Census Data Main instructor: Katie Genadek, Minnesota Population Center, IPUMS project. Elaine Murakami FHWA Office of Planning 206-220-4460 (in Seattle)