Data Projects – Page 10 – Use It for Good

Better Maps with Census Centers of Population

March 6, 2024February 17, 2022 by mpcblog

Jonathan Schroeder, IPUMS Research Scientist, NHGIS Project Manager

The best mapping resource no one’s using?

In the domain of U.S. population mapping, the Census Bureau’s centers of population may be the nation’s most underused data resource. Before I explain why, let’s cover some basics…

What are they? A center of population represents the mean location of residence for an area’s population, roughly the average latitude and longitude, adjusting for the curvature of the earth. For the last three decennial censuses (2000, 2010, 2020), the Census Bureau has published centers of population separately for U.S. states, counties, census tracts, and block groups.

Where can you get them? Through the Census Bureau website, you can download files containing the latitude and longitude coordinates for centers of population. To facilitate mapping and analysis, IPUMS NHGIS has transformed the coordinates into point shapefiles, available for download through the NHGIS Data Finder.

What are they used for? At the moment, not much! But there are dozens of settings where they’d be helpful. I’m hoping this blog will help get the word out, and if it does, you might now be reading this in some future age, marveling how we ever went so long without using them!

OK, how should we use them? In the case of statistical maps—my focus here—centers of population are wonderfully effective for placing proportional symbols. I share lots of examples down below to demonstrate, but first, let’s consider the general advantages of proportional symbol maps compared to a more common alternative: choropleth maps…

Using the MEPS-HC to Study Change in Adult Mental Health

January 11, 2022January 11, 2022 by mpcblog

By Julia A. Rivera Drew and Natalie Del Ponte

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Component, or MEPS-HC, data are an invaluable resource for studying short-term trajectories in health, including adult mental health. An integrated series of the MEPS-HC data is available at IPUMS MEPS. Collected on the Self-Administered Questionnaire and, starting in 2019, the Preventive Self-Administered Questionnaire, the MEPS-HC includes two validated adult mental health scales. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) and the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire depression screener (PHQ-2) are asked twice per panel, during interview rounds 2 and 4 (see Table 1). There are also two validated scales measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that capture several interrelated health domains, including mental health. These include the Short Form-12 (SF-12) in 2000-2016 and the Veterans RAND-12 (VR-12) starting in 2017 (see Table 2 for VR-12 measures). For more information on the SF-12, see the section on SF-12 scoring on MCS and for more information on the VR-12, see ADDAYA.

Introducing CPS-ASEC Longitudinal Extracts

December 20, 2021December 10, 2021 by mpcblog

By Renae Rodgers

The panel component of the Current Population Survey and new Longitudinal Extracts

Did you know that the Current Population Survey (CPS) – an important source of information on unemployment, poverty, and many other topics – has a panel component? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. The CPS rotation pattern is complex and can be difficult to work with. In fact, IPUMS CPS has held multi-day workshops intended to introduce researchers to the CPS panel component, help them understand the rotation pattern, and show some convenient IPUMS CPS features that make working with CPS panel data a little easier. If you’re completely new to the CPS panel, check out the materials from our latest workshop!

Maybe you did know about the CPS panel component, but looked at the complex rotation pattern, the Census Bureau guidelines and linking keys, and decided that this was for the birds. If this sounds like you, then our newest IPUMS CPS feature may be right for you! IPUMS CPS users can now download CPS-ASEC panels that contain two observations per person across a one-year period as longitudinal extracts. The rest of this blog post will explain what you are getting when you make a CPS-ASEC longitudinal extract and will walk you through how to create one for yourself.