This is why five year average data do, and will, need to be used with
caution. No one would want to average 2003-7 in New Orleans! That's why
it's good that we will have the 1 year data sets for places of 65,000 or
more population and 3 year data sets for places of 20,000 or more. Ten
years from now we can write articles analyzing the good and bad of 5 year
accumulations of data. For now, we just have to be careful.
I completely agree that sampling error and absence of group quarters both
raise their ugly heads when working with ACS data. But including group
quarters, if the bureau gets to do it, won't solve the whole problem,
because there is likely to be a lot of sampling error there.
Patty Becker
At 04:50 PM 09/13/2005, you wrote:
I think there is a major problem in the ACS survey data
for 2004 because
of not including group quarters. Princeton University is in Mercer
County, and a good part of its student population is housed in dorms or
eating groups (fraternities), which are group quarters. Something like
40% of the work trips in Princeton Boro are walk to work, probably mostly
univeristy related jobs, and students employed within the Boro. The ACS
leaving out group quarters may explain part of this. I also have a problem
with aggregating 5 years of data and calling it a 5 year average. NJT
opened a 33 mile Light Rail line in early 2004, connecting Trenton to
Camden. I noticed in the Burlington County data a big jump in "railroad"
work trips, probably related to this new rail line. How does a major
change in transit service get averaged with 3 other years when it is a
permanent change. This applies to any region where a major change in
transit service gets implemented. What about possible sh!
ifts in carpooling this year due to gas prices. A 5 year average may
not be worth much. I think Dr. Zakaria raises some real issues here,
especially with big error rates, and I think major changes in transit
service, gas prices etc. can skew things.
-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net]
On Behalf Of Thabet Zakaria
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 9:54 AM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: [CTPP] 2004 ACS Data Release
2004 ACS Data Release by Thabet Zakaria dated September 12, 2005 is
resubmitted in PDF.
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Patricia C. (Patty) Becker 248/354-6520
APB Associates/SEMCC FAX 248/354-6645
28300 Franklin Road Home 248/355-2428
Southfield, MI 48034 pbecker(a)umich.edu