Small Populations, Large Effects

Improving the Measurement of the Group Quarters Population in the American Community Survey

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• Publisher: National Academies Press
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9780309255639
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Index: Social Sciences

In the early 1990s, the Census Bureau proposed a program of continuous measurement as a possible alternative to the gathering of detailed social, economic, and housing data from a sample of the U.S. population as part of the decennial census. The American Community Survey (ACS) became a reality in 2005, and has included group quarters (GQ)-such places as correctional facilities for adults, student housing, nursing facilities, inpatient hospice facilities, and military barracks-since 2006, primarily to more closely replicate the design and data products of the census long-form sample.The decision to include group quarters in the ACS enables the Census Bureau to provide a comprehensive benchmark of the total U.S. population (not just those living in households). However, the fact that the ACS must rely on a sample of what is a small and very diverse population, combined with limited funding available for survey operations, makes the ACS GQ sampling, data collection, weighting, and estimation procedures more complex and the estimates more susceptible to problems stemming from these limitations. The concerns are magnified in small areas, particularly in terms of detrimental effects on the total population estimates produced for small areas.Small Populations, Large Effects provides an in-depth review of the statistical methodology for measuring the GQ population in the ACS. This report addresses difficulties associated with measuring the GQ population and the rationale for including GQs in the ACS. Considering user needs for ACS data and of operational feasibility and compatibility with the treatment of the household population in the ACS, the report recommends alternatives to the survey design and other methodological features that can make the ACS more useful for users of small-area data.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Summary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Group Quarters Population and the American Community Survey
• 3 American Community Survey Data Products, Data Uses, and Data Needs
• 4 Sampling Frame Development and Maintenance
• 5 Sample Allocation and Selection
• 6 Weighting and Estimation
• References
• A Participants in the Panel’s Meeting with Data Users December 13, 2010
• B 2011 American Community Survey: Housing Unit Questionnaire
• C 2011 American Community Survey: Group Quarters Questionnaire
• D 2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Data Tables That Highlight the Group Quarters Population in Virginia
• E 2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Data Tables That Highlight the Group Quarters Population in Goochland County, Virginia
• F The 10 Largest Federal Assistance Programs That Relied on ACS Total Population Estimates, Fiscal Year 2008
• G The 10 Largest Federal Assistance Programs with Funds Sent Directly to Substate Areas Based on ACS Total Population Estimates, Fiscal Year 2008
• H Plots of Relative Differences, ACS Estimates from 2005-2009, 2007-2009, and 2009 with Expected Estimates of the Group Quarters Population in U.S. States
• I Plots of Relative Differences, 2005-2009 ACS Estimates and 2007 Expected Estimates of the Group Quarters Population in Selected Counties by Region
• J Plots of Relative Differences, 2005-2009 ACS Estimates and 2007 Expected Estimates of the Group Quarters Population in Selected Areas with Populations Under 20,000
• K Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff