Information Sharing at the UM Population Studies Center
The International Year of Statistics
The International Year of Statistics is scheduled for calendar year 2013. But, there are lots of upcoming conferences and other activities associated with this celebration. You’ll need to send in abstracts in advance of 2013.
One last feature of the celebration website is the resource section. This may prove useful for teaching purposes.
This was a fairly congenial hearing. I am not certain if a transcript of the hearing will show up, which includes the Q & A among the senators and the witnesses. Otherwise, you’ll have to watch the streaming video.
Census: Planning Ahead for 2020
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services & International Security
July 18, 2012 2:30PM
Dirksen Senate Office Building, room SD-342
Witnesses
The Honorable Robert M. Groves
Director, Census Bureau
Testimony
The Honorable Todd Zinser
Inspector General, Department of Commerce
Testimony
Robert Goldenkoff
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Testimony
Dr. Jason Providakes
The Mitre Corporation
Testimony
Dr. Jack Baker
The National Academy of Sciences
Testimony
Dr. Andrew Reamer
George Washington University, Institute of Public Policy
Testimony
This is the press coverage for the “Death of Evidence” movement in Canada – mostly Carleton University scientists
The Death of Evidence Website
No science, no evidence, no truth, no democracy
Feds mount systematic, deliberate campaign to reduce role of scientific evidence in decision-making
Diane Orihel, Scott Findlay | Hill Times
July 23, 2012
Death of evidence: Changes to Canadian science raise questions that the government must answer
Op-ed | Nature
July 19, 2012
Changes to Canadian science raise questions that the government must answer
Editorial | Nature
July 18, 2012
‘The Death of Evidence’ in Canada: Scientists’ Own Words
Katie Gibbs, Adam Houben, Arne Mooers, Vance L. Trudeau and Diane Orihel | The Tyee
July 16, 2012
This is a compressed compilation of the speeches that various scientists gave at the ‘Death of Evidence’ protest. Or to quote the tag-line for this article: “(D)ata distorted for ‘propaganda’ and other complaints against the Harper government made at last week’s Ottawa rally.”
The day the earth moved in Ottawa
Michael Harris | iPolitics
July 12, 2012
Canada’s budget cuts imperil important environmental research area
Public Radio International [PRI.org]
July 12, 2012
includes audio interview & story
Scientists march on Parliament Hill to protest research cuts
Terry Pedwell | The Canadian Press [www.thestar.com]
July 10, 2012
Canada’s PM Stephen Harper faces revolt by scientists
Suzanne Goldenberg | The Guardian
July 9, 2012
Most of these article and blog entries are related to Jeff Flake’s amendment to a House appropriations bill, which stripped funding for Political Science from NSF. The Senate should be acting on the appropriations bill that funds NSF in the next few weeks.
Stop bullying the ’soft’ sciences
Timothy Wilson | Los Angeles Times
July 13, 2012
Congress should cut funding for political science research
Charles Lane | The Washington Post
June 4, 2012
Political Science Serving the Public Interest
Nolan McCarty | The Monkey Cage
May 30, 2012
How Reliable are the Social Sciences?
Gary Gutting | The New York Times
May 17, 2012
The Census Bureau released estimates of places in late June.
Note that these estimates use a different algorithm than the state/county population estimates released earlier this year. Estimates for places are based on housing unit methodology. The estimates for states and counties are based on vital statistics (births, deaths) and an estimate of migration.
This makes a difference if one is comparing Detroit or Cleveland, which are both sub-county population estimates as compared to Baltimore, which is a county equivalent.
The results for Michigan show Detroit losing 3% of its population and remaining just above 700,000. All other places within Wayne County have very similar rates – with most of the difference due to the variations in the distribution of the GQ and household populations across these communities.
On the other hand, the Population Estimates for places produced by the Southeastern Michigan Census Council (SEMCOG) show quite a bit of variation within counties. Hamtramck grew by 2.1%, while Detroit and Highland Park declined by 4% and 6.6% respectively.
And, big picture-wise, Texas is home to 8 of the 15 most rapidly growing cities. [Press Release]
The word is just in via Twitter:
@CommerceGov DepSec Blank on release of data measuring 2010 census accuracy: “On time, under budget and accurate.”
The 2010 Census had a very slight overcount, but some groups (renters, blacks, and Hispanics) were undercounted. But, there are improvements compared to previous censuses.
Press Kit
The press kit is very detailed. There are multiple sets of presentations slides and then many technical reports.
While the Press Kit has excellent handouts, users may wish to watch the press conference to get the additional details that a slide cannot convey. Below are links to the video of the press conference on the Census Bureau’s USTREAM channel. It is broken into 3 segments. The first is an overview and not real technical. The afternoon session is technical, appropriate for survey methodologists and others with an interest in sampling, weights, and small area measurment. That session is divided into two segments as there was a break.
Census Coverage Measurement Press Conference
Coverage Measurement Press Conference: Technical Session (part 1)
Coverage Measurement Press Conference: Technical Session (part 2)
Video streaming by Ustream
Census Bureau Pushes Online Survey Response Option
by D’Vera Cohn | Pew Social and Demographic Trends
April 26, 2012
The Census Bureau did not have an internet option for the 2010 Census; it did for the 2000 Census, but it was not widely advertised. Ren Farley, was one of only 60,000 households to use that mode in 2000. After much research the Census Bureau is scheduled to have an internet option for the 2020 Census as well as the ongoing collection of data for the American Community Survey.
Here’s a nice article that compares the demographic future of China and the US. It would be nice reading in a demographic methods course:
Demography: China’s Achilles Heel
The Economist
April 21, 2012
The Census Bureau rejects the NYC challenge, but mostly on technical grounds. Here are the rules for census challenges. The only other choice is to conduct a full census of NYC on the city’s dime.
Previous stories about this issue follow the updated news.
Census Rejects City Challenge
Pervaiz Shallwani | Wall Street Journal
April 1, 2012
A spokeswoman with the Department of City Planning, which oversees the census issues, said it is “unfortunate no mechanism exists to rectify the errors we identified.” She said department demographers planned to work with the Census Bureau to improve procedures for a more accurate count during the 2020 census.
. . .
In his letter rejecting the city’s claims, Arnold Jackson of the U.S. Census Bureau said that while there were errors, they didn’t fall
into the three areas that trigger a change in the count, such as geographic boundaries.
Census Numbers for City Won’t Change, Bureau Says
Matt Flegenheimer | New York TImes
April 1, 2012
Filing Challenge to Census, City Says 50,000 Weren’t Counted in 2 Boroughs
Sam Roberts | New York Times
August 10, 2011
Survey Hints at a Census Undercount in New York City
Sam Roberts | New York Times
May 24, 2011
Death Gets in the Way of Old-Age Gains
Carl Bialik | Wall Street Journal
March 2, 2012
This study suggests that a previously detected slowdown in mortality growth after age 88 didn’t exist among Americans born between 1875 and 1895. This finding coupled with a lower-than-expected count of U.S. centenarians in the 2010 census, has some demographers re-examining their beliefs about how well people who survive to old ages stave off death.
Mortality Measurement at Advanced Ages: A Study of the Social Security Administration Death Master File
Leonid A. Gavrilov and Natalia S. Gavrilova | North American Actuarial Journal
Volume 15, Number 4