Re: [CTPP] captured from AASHTO News today: Data Visualization contest by BTS

Elaine this application presents some interesting and somewhat perplexing issues when it come to displaying data from the ACS. First, the numbers for Idaho are correct. For 2010 there were 4,609 Male bikers. What is not told is that the MOE is +/- 1,021. For Females there were 3,505 with a MOE of 1,122. So how would one account for the MOEs with such a display? I did not do any significance test but I would imagine that the comparisons of some states to others, as one would be inclined to do with the map display, might come out as insignificant given the large MOEs. Maybe I am wrong since the state samples are large but some indication would have been nice to know. The same issue arises when looking at an individual state and looking at each of the six years. Another minor issue that I noticed is when citing ACS as the source. I would recommend that we all start getting used to saying which ACS series we are using. I only assumed since they were showing annual data starting in 2005 that the source was ACS 1-year (ACS1) data as opposed to either ACS 3-year (ACS3) or ACS 5-year (ACS5) data. As we get more multi-year estimates it will be more important for us to make sure we identify which data series. I did think it would make a interesting trivia question. For 2010 what state had the second highest mode share of bike commuters? I would have never guessed Alaska. PS. I used the profile generator at the Missouri State data center to obtain the 1010 ACS1 data (http://mcdc1.missouri.edu/acsprofiles/acsprofilemenu.html) . Elaine.Murakami(a)dot.gov wrote: -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 4749 Lincoln Mall Drive, Suite 600 Matteson, IL 60443