ESTIMATION PROCEDURE
Estimates from the census sample were obtained from an iterative ratio estimation procedure (iterative proportional fitting) resulting in the assignment of a weight to each sample person or housing unit record. For any given tabulation area, a characteristic total was estimated by summing the weights assigned to the persons or housing units processing the characteristic in the tabulation area.
Estimates of family or household characteristics were based on the weight assigned to the person designated as householder. Each sample person or housing unit record was assigned exactly one weight to be used to produce estimates of all characteristics. For example, if the weight given to a sample person or housing unit had the value 6, all characteristics of that person or housing unit would be tabulated with the weight of 6. The estimation procedure, however, did assign weights varying from person to person or housing unit to housing unit. The estimation procedure used to assign the weight was performed in geographically defined "weighting areas". Weighting areas were generally formed of contiguous portions of geography which closely agreed with census tabulation areas within counties.
Weighting areas were never allowed to cross state or county boundaries. In small counties with a sample unit below 400 persons, the minimum required sample condition was relaxed to permit the entire county to become a weighting area.
Within a weighting area, the ratio estimation procedure for persons was performed in four stages. For persons, the first stage applied 17 household-type groups. The second stage used two groups: sampling rate of 1-in-2 and sampling rate below 1-in-2. The third stage used the dichotomy householder/nonhouseholders. The fourth stage applied 180 aggregate age/sex/Hispanic origin/race categories.
The stages were as follows:
Stage I: Type of Household
Group
Persons in Housing Units With a Family With Own Children Under 18
1 2 persons in housing unit
2 3 persons in housing unit
3 4 persons in housing unit
4 5 to 7 persons in housing unit
5 8 or more in housing unit
Persons in Housing Units With a Family Without Own Children Under 18
6-10 2 through 8 or more persons in housing unit
Persons in All Other Housing Units
11 1 person in housing unit
12-16 2 through 8 or more persons in housing unit
Persons in Group Quarters
17 Persons in Group Quarters
Stage II: Sampling Rates
1 Sampling rate of 1-in-2
2 Sampling rate less than 1-in-2
Stage III: Householder/Nonhouseholder
1 Householder
2 Nonhouseholder
Stage IV: Age/Sex/Hispanic origin/Race
White
Persons of Hispanic origin
Male
1 0 to 4 years of age
2 5 to 14 years of age
3 15 to 19 years of age
4 20 to 24 years of age
5 25 to 34 years of age
6 35 to 54 years of age
7 55 to 64 years of age
8 65 to 74 years of age
9 75 years of age or older
Female
10-18 Same age categories as groups 1 through 9.
Persons Not of Hispanic origin
19-36 Same age and sex categories as groups 1 through 18.
Black
37-72 Same age/sex/Hispanic origin categories as groups
through 36
Asian or Pacific Islander
73-108 Same age/sex/Hispanic origin categories as groups 1
through 36
American Indian, Eskimo or Aleut
109-144 Same age/sex/Hispanic origin categories as groups 1
through 36
Other Race (includes those races not listed above)
145-180 Same age/sex/Hispanic origin categories as groups 1
through 36
Within a weighting area, the first step in the estimation procedure was to assign an initial weight to each sample person record. This weight was approximately equal to the inverse of the probability of selecting a person for the census sample.
The next step in the estimation procedure, prior to iterative proportional fitting, was to combine categories in each of the four estimation stages, when needed, to increase the reliability of the ratio estimation procedure. For each stage, any group that did not meet certain criteria for the unweighted sample count or for the ratio of the 100 percent to the initially weighted sample count, was combined, or collapsed, with another group in the same stage according to a specified collapsing pattern. At the forth stage, an additional criterion concerning the number of 100-percent persons in each race/Hispanic origin category was applied.
As the final step, the initial weights underwent four stages
of ratio adjustment applying the grouping procedures described
above. At the first stage, the ratio of the 100- percent to the
sum of the initial weights for each sample person was computed
for each stage I group. The initial weight assigned to each
person in a group was then multiplied by the stage I group
ratio to produce an adjusted weight.
In stage II, the stage I adjusted weights were again adjusted
by the ratio of the 100-percent to the sum of the stage I
weights for sample persons in each stage II group. Next, at
stage III, the stage II weights were adjusted by the ratio of
the 100-percent to the sum of the stage II weights for sample
persons in each stage III group.
Finally, at stage IV, the stage III weights were adjusted by the ratio of the 100-percent to the sum of the stage III weights for sample persons in each stage IV group. The four stages of ratio adjustment were performed two times (two iterations) in the order given above. The weights obtained from the second iteration for stage IV were assigned to the sample person records. However, to avoid complications in rounding for tabulated data, only whole number weights were assigned. For example, if the final weight of the persons in a particular group was 7.25 then 1/4 of the sample persons in this group were randomly assigned a weight of 8, while the remaining 3/4 received a weight of 7.
The ratio estimation procedure for housing units was essentially the same as that for persons, except that vacant units were treated differently. The occupied housing unit ratio estimation procedure was done in four stages, and the vacant housing unit ratio estimation procedure was done in a single stage. The first stage for occupied housing units applied 16 household type categories, while the second stage used the two sampling categories described above for persons. The third stage applied three units-in-building categories, i.e. single units, multiunit less than 10 and multiunit 10 or more.
The fourth stage could potentially use 200 tenure/race/Hispanic origin/rent value groups. The stages for ratio estimation for housing units were as follows:
OCCUPIED HOUSING UNITS
Stage I: Type of Household
Group
Housing Units With a Family With Own Children Under 18.
1 2 persons in housing unit
2 3 persons in housing unit
3 4 persons in housing unit
4 5 to 7 persons in housing unit
5 9 or more persons in housing unit
Housing Units With a Family Without Own Children Under 18.
6-10 2 through 8 or more persons in housing unit
All Other Housing Units
11 1 person in housing unit
12-16 2 persons in housing unit through 8 or more persons in
housing unit
Stage II: Sampling Rate Category
1 Sampling rate of 1-in-2
2 Sampling rate less than 1-in-2
Stage III: Units in Building
1 Single unit structure
2 Multiunit consisting of fewer than 10 individual units
3 Multiunit consisting of 10 or more individual units
Stage IV: Tenure/Race and origin of Householder/
Value of Rent
Group Owner
White Householder
Hispanic origin (Householder)
Value of Housing Unit
1 Less than $20,000
2 $20,000 to $39,999
3 $40,000 to $59,999
4 $60,000 to $79,999
5 $80,000 to $99,999
6 $100,000 to $149,999
7 $150,000 to $249,999
8 $250,000 to $299,999
9 $300,000+
10 Other
Householder Not of Hispanic origin
11-20 Same value categories as groups 1 through 10
Black Householder
21-40 Same Hispanic origin/value categories as groups 1 through
20
Asian or Pacific Islander Householder
41-60 Same Hispanic origin/value categories as groups
1 through 20
American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut Householder
61-80 Same Hispanic origin/value categories as groups
1 through 20
Other Race Householder
81-100 Same Hispanic origin/value categories as groups
1 through 20
Renter
White Householder
Householder of Hispanic origin
Group Rent categories
101 Less than $100
102 $100 to $199
103 $200 to $299
104 $300 to $399
105 $400 to $499
106 $500 to $599
107 $600 to $749
108 $750 to $999
109 $1000+
110 No cash rent
Householder Not of Hispanic origin
111-120 Same rent categories as groups 101 through 112
Black Householder
121-140 Same Hispanic origin/rent categories as groups 101
through 120
Asian or Pacific Islander Householder
141-160 Same Hispanic origin/rent origin
categories as groups 101 through 120
American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut Householder
161-180 Same Hispanic origin/rent categories
as groups 101 through 120
Other Race Householder
181-200 Same Hispanic origin/rent categories
as groups 101 through 120
VACANT HOUSING UNIT
Group
1 Vacant for Rent
2 Vacant for Sale
3 Other Vacant
The estimates produced by this procedure realize some of the gains in sampling efficiency that would have resulted if the population had been stratified into the ratio- estimation group before sampling, and the sampling rate had been applied independently to each group. The net effect is a reduction in both the standard error and the possible bias of most estimated characteristic to levels below what would have resulted from simply using the initial (unadjusted) weight. A by- product of this estimation procedure is that the estimates from the sample will for the most part be consistent with the 100-percent figures for the population and housing unit groups used in the estimation procedure.
Pages 4-2 through 4-5 from:
Census of Population and Housing, 1990: Public Use Microdata Sample U.S. Technical Documentation / prepared b the Bureau of the Census. Washington: The Bureau, 1992.
Text version of this document was prepared by ICPSR.
Html markup was done at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
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