ICPSR Census 2000 Advisory Committee Report
Organizational Meeting
Minneapolis, MN
May 18, 2000
Attending [Committee]: Steven Ruggles, Chair, (University of Minnesota), Ilona Einowski (University of California, Berkeley), W. Reynolds Farley (University of Michigan), John Kavaliunas (U.S. Bureau of the Census), Halliman H. Winsborough (ICPSR), Erik Austin (ICPSR), and Peter Granda (ICPSR). Attending as observers and for a discussion of prospective design changes for the 2000 Census PUMS files were Matt Sobek (University of California, Davis), Todd Gardner (University of Minnesota and U.S. Bureau of the Census), and Cathy Fitch (University of Minnesota).
The Census 2000 Advisory committee of ICPSR met for its organizational meeting at the Minnesota Population Center in Minneapolis. Wide-ranging discussions were conducted on the following topics: the charge to the committee from ICPSR Interim Director Hal Winsborough; review of ICPSR's 1990 Census project activities; and Census 2000 data products and availability; needs of the academic community for 2000 Census data and related activities; options for ICPSR activities (including acquisition choices, distribution modes, finances and fundraising, training, and related activities).
Central to the committee's deliberations were the Census Bureau's plans for making the results of the 2000 Census available to the general public and research communities. The Census Bureau is planning to place all 2000 Census data files on its Web site with specialized access software to generate tables and online tabulations for users. Approximately one month after files appear on the Internet, they will become available on CD-ROM. At the present time, the Bureau has no plans to routinely distribute ASCII data files to the user community. However, the Bureau is willing to make ASCII data files available to ICPSR under terms of a new Joint Statistical Agreement between the Bureau and ICPSR, similar to the 1991 Agreement that allowed the Consortium to acquire without cost essentially all of the 1990 Census files. The committee felt that the social science research community strongly preferred to obtain 2000 Census files in ASCII format, rather than bundled in specialized software geared more to standardized table generation than to statistical analysis.
Thus, the committee endorsed a set of activities revolving around acquiring, processing, preserving, and enhancing 2000 Census files obtained from the Census Bureau. Specifically, the Advisory Committee recommended to the Council that ICPSR:
Negotiate a Joint Statistical Agreement with the Census Bureau to permit acquisition of 2000 Census data and related products.
Acquire all data and documentation files associated with the 2000 Census, including all of the TIGER line files and PDF maps (the latter will consist of 65,000 files on 200 CD-ROMS).
Distribute Census data files and related products, in ASCII format, from the ICPSR Web site, augmented by production of 2000 Census CD-ROMS on demand for member institutions that require them.
Create a new special topic archive Web site for the 2000 Census which will be linked to the Census Bureau's Web site.
Provide all 2000 Census data and documentation files free to member institutions.
Plan a set of training activities for the 2000 Census for users from member institutions, which will focus on online tutorials and 2-3 day workshops. Whenever possible, ICPSR should coordinate its training plans with those of the Census Bureau so that, for example, a one-day Census Bureau workshop would be followed by a one-day ICPSR workshop.
Produce a brochure as well as appropriate printed or electronic documents to publicize the role of the Consortium in providing access to 2000 Census materials.
Seek outside funding to support the cost of 2000 Census processing, preservation, and enhancements. As a sub-recommendation, the committee urged Council to consider the prospects of obtaining sufficient funds for ICPSR's Census 2000 activities to be able to provide public access to the 2000 Census data products.
Consider the possibility of establishing a data "enclave" at ICPSR to give researchers access to restricted Census files.
Produce a cost proposal for ICPSR's own contribution to this endeavor.
A significant portion of the committee meeting was devoted to a discussion of plans announced by the Census Bureau to curtail the amount of subject detail available in the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files. Numerous indicators that have made PUMS such a useful data resource are likely to be affected by the proposed collapsing of subject categories, including age, income, race, ancestry, country of birth, occupation, industry, and geography. Heightened concern for confidentiality is the apparent reason for this proposed curtailment. The committee unanimously viewed the loss of subject matter detail being proposed as very harmful or even catastrophic to research use of PUMS across many fields of social science inquiry. The committee endorsed an effort undertaken by chair Steve Ruggles, on behalf of both the ICPSR and the IPUMS user communities, to persuade the Census Bureau to retain as much PUMS subject matter detail as possible. [N.B. At a conference in Virginia sponsored (on May 22) by the Census Bureau, Ruggles made a highly effective presentation in defense of retaining subject matter detail in the 2000 Census PUMS. The conference, organized on short notice to obtain input on proposed changes in PUMS, included many Census Bureau policymakers, as well as stakeholders from other Federal and community agencies and some members of the academic research community. As of this writing, it was not known if the Census Bureau had made final decisions on the amount of detail to release in the Census 2000 PUMS files.]
The Census 2000 Advisory Committee, therefore, offered one additional recommendation to the ICPSR Council:
Encourage the Census Bureau to preserve as much detail in the PUMS files as possible.
The next meeting of the Committee will occur in September or October.