EIJ13: Diversity Data-Mining: Finding Important Demographic Trends in Census Data
“Although US Census Bureau data has long been a go-to for journalists looking for data-driven stories, an Aug. 25 panel at the Society of Professional Journalists’ Excellence in Journalism 2013 convention in Anaheim, California, sought to help journalists take those stories to the next level.
“A lot of stories can be written out of #census data. It’s not easy, but it’s there,” said Armando Mendoza, a program supervisor in the Los Angeles Region of the US Census Bureau.
Mendoza acknowledged that the Census.gov site could be intimidating to visitors.
“If you’re looking for the percentage of married couples, where do you go from here?” he said, after pulling up the site.
For an easier experience, Mendoza recommended journalists use the bureau’s mobile applications, which are easier to navigate.
But on the regular site, users should click on “Data” and “Population Finder” to find data quickly.
“Here you’ve got some information on Alabama.”
Data can be viewed for various geographic boundaries, including sorting it by congressional district. (One of the purposes of the census is to help with drawing congressional boundaries.)
A salivating journalist in the back called out “wow!” when she saw the data for a single district pop up.
The site still has its challenges: Comparing data from multiple census years can’t be done within the site yet — “That’s the difficult part,” Mendoza said — although he believes the bureau will have that enabled by the time 2020 data is available.
(The main census still takes place every 10 years, although starting in 2005, the bureau began doing the American Community Survey, with every two-year snapshots of the population. Due to sample size issues, smaller cities only have released every five years, although larger areas get updates annually.)
In the meantime, the Census website allows data to be downloaded in spreadsheet format, where it can then be merged with data from other years. (See the write-up of the earlier panel on Google Fusion Tables for an introduction to spreadsheets for journalists.)
Mendoza often explores the Census website using Google, in lieu of the site’s own navigation system. He recommends searching for “census quick facts” or “census quick links” and the name of the area in question.
But on the site itself, “American Factfinder,” under the “Data” menu, is the “primary search engine” for data.
Scroll down on the American Fact Finder page and search by street addresses to get hyperlocal data.
And within data sets, some information breaks down into even more complex data sets: Both Asian and Hispanic populations break down into subgroups, for instance, detailing the background and national origins of those who identify as members of those groups.
Note that the bureau does not collect data on sexual orientation at this time. Demographic categories are not set by the bureau, but rather the Office of Management and Budgets.
In addition to the census and ACS, the bureau also does surveys on population, health interviews, crime and consumer surveys.
The bureau also does free data dissemination presentations to explain local data and how to access it.
The bureau would “absolutely, you bet” send out a trainer to teach a whole newsroom to access and census data better, Mendoza said.
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