Census Data for Good: Analysis to Action

October 9, 2024 by mpcblog

By Lara Cleveland

IPUMS International regularly asks representatives of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) around the world to share their data with the research community. While IPUMS offers a license payment to countries for the right to redistribute microdata, NSO representatives are most interested in how sharing data with IPUMS will benefit the people of their countries. After 30 years of harmonizing data that NSOs have shared with us, IPUMS can indeed point to innovative research from data users all over the world, many at major universities in these partner countries. Directors of statistical offices, especially those with close ties to academia, are thrilled that the data are used for scholarly scientific production and for the purpose of educating the next generation. However, most of these leaders are much more interested in how data sharing leads to effective policy. And they want examples. They are essentially asking how the data have been “used for good,” as the original IPUMS tagline, “Use it for good!” implores.

IPUMS supports the Sustainable Development Goals

In response, IPUMS has been following data-to-policy trails where we can find them. The United Nations’ efforts to establish and measure the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have provided wins in this area. Early in the life of the SDGs, colleagues from the World Health Organization visited IPUMS to leverage detailed information in the occupational variables for locating the health workforce. Microdata from censuses helped them measure the density of a range of health worker classifications at subnational levels. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) did similar work to disaggregate census-based SDGs by migratory status. At the start of the pandemic, The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) used IPUMS census microdata to spin up a dashboard showing the living arrangements of older adults, again at subnational levels. Each of these applications of IPUMS International data resulted in policy recommendations, informed by additional data, additional policy research, and pilot projects.

New Data Release from IPUMS International – From Mexico to MOSAIC

May 9, 2024May 9, 2024 by mpcblog

By Lara Cleveland and Jane Lee

IPUMS International has released new data! Eighteen new census samples have been added to the collection, including data from Côte d’Ivoire, which is new to IPUMS International. Newly released census samples include Cambodia (2019), Côte d’Ivoire (1988, 1998), Denmark (1845, 1880, 1885), Laos (1995, 2015), Mexico (2020), Peru (2017), Puerto Rico (2015, 2020), Switzerland (2011), United Kingdom (1961, 1971), United States (2015, 2020) and Vietnam (2019). As always, we gratefully acknowledge the national statistical offices of all the countries partnering with IPUMS International to make data available for research.

New geography variables are also now available with harmonized migration variables at the second-administrative level; the codes for the newly released migration variables match existing IPUMS International geography codes and labels. As an example, the geographic units in the migration variable for Mexico at the municipo level (place of residence 5 years ago, MIG2_5_MX) are reconciled to the boundaries for place of current residence (GEO2_MX).

This is a map showing the 2020 census 5-year migration rates for GEO1 in Mexico, and GEO2 in Nuevo Leon state — 2020 census 5-year migration rates for GEO1 in Mexico, and GEO2 in Nuevo Leon state. Map by Quinn Heimann

Geospatial Contextuals from IPUMS International

January 17, 2024January 12, 2024 by mpcblog

By Ryan Gavin & Quinn Heimann

IPUMS International launched a new platform that will aid researchers using geospatial contextual data along with IPUMS International census microdata!

What is geospatial contextual data?

Geospatial contextual data describe features of the physical and social environment of a geographic area, and allow users to explore how contextual factors interrelate with individual characteristics and outcomes. For example, in their 2020 paper in Global Environmental Change, Mueller et al. estimated the effects that climate-related variables had on migration in Botswana, Kenya, and Zambia between 1989 and 2011. Often, however, these data are large, complex, and packaged in unfamiliar ways. With this new platform, IPUMS International simplifies the process of identifying and linking contextual data with our robust repository of census microdata.

Geospatial contextual data can vary across space, time, or both and often do not obey administrative boundaries. IPUMS International is unique in offering spatiotemporally harmonized administrative geography variables, which when linked to time-variant contextual data, allow researchers to explore the relationship between social phenomena and temporally-dynamic geospatial data using a consistent spatial footprint.

For example, researchers might be interested in studying how changing January precipitation in Bangladesh from 1991-2011 is associated with social or demographic variables. In this case, harmonized geographic variables are ideal because of administrative boundary changes in Bangladesh between 2001 and 2011.

Maps of Bangladesh in 1991, 2001, and 2011 showing the total January Precipitation using year-specific geography and harmonized geography. — Bangladesh map showing January precipitation totals for each census year, showing the difference between year-specific and harmonized geography for measuring effects.

IPUMS International: 2023 Highlights & Heading Into 2024

December 18, 2023December 18, 2023 by mpcblog

By Jane Lee, IPUMS International

IPUMS International is entering 2024 with a strong head start on partner relations and great energy for continued data engagement with partners and with data users. Thanks to user feedback and productive engagement with existing and prospective national statistical office (NSO) partners, users can expect access to additional census and survey data and new, exciting enhancements in 2024.

2023 was packed fuller than usual with renewed interactions with National Statisticians and statistical offices worldwide. Our attendance at the UN Statistical Commission meetings in February garnered productive conversations with countries, and we were able to move those conversations closer to next steps at the ISI WSC in July, and at the International Conference of Labor Statisticians, in October, which was an opportunity for IPUMS to connect specifically about labor force survey data sharing with NSO representatives from more than 25 countries.

Group of people standing in front of backdrop at the IAOS Conference workshop IPUMS remains committed to regional and conference-based engagement. In May, we hosted a pre-conference workshop in conjunction with IAOS (International Association for Official Statistics) Conference in Livingstone, Zambia.

The 14+ NSO labor force and census experts who attended participated in robust cross-country discussions and shared expertise, tools, and technology related to census. In partnership with UNESCWA, IPUMS International joined NSOs and data users in October at the Regional Workshop on Population Projection and Use of Microdata in Rabat, Morocco. There, IPUMS piloted a new training for statistical offices on the preparation of public-use files for the 40+ attendees.

Going Global: IPUMS International

September 5, 2023September 5, 2023 by mpcblog

By Diana Magnuson

Display case with a banner "Going Global: IPUMS International" and memorabilia from around the world — The display case at IPUMS HQ

A new exhibit, “Going Global: IPUMS International,” is now on display at IPUMS headquarters, housed at the University of Minnesota. The exhibit features pieces that tell the history and scope of IPUMS International.

Beginning in 1999 with a social science infrastructure grant from the National Science Foundation, IPUMS International had a simple yet audaciously ambitious goal: preserve the world’s microdata resources and democratize access to those resources. Twenty-four years later, the goals are: collecting and preserving census and survey data and documentation; harmonizing those data; and disseminating the harmonized data free of charge. The data series includes information on an impressive range of population characteristics, including fertility, nuptiality, life-course transitions, migration, labor-force participation, occupational structure, education, ethnicity, and household composition.

Dr. Bob McCaa standing behind a table with stacks of paper — Dr. Bob McCaa

Source data for IPUMS International are generously provided by participating national statistical offices. Our staff develop and nurture relationships with representatives of NSOs from around the world. As IPUMS International got underway, co-principal investigator Dr. Bob McCaa, University of Minnesota Department of History, “proved to have formidable persuasive powers and managed to convince . . . agency directors of the benefits of preservation and access to scientific information.” Over time, IPUMS International developed a team of research scientists articulating to a broad international audience the significance of the IPUMS data collection, harmonization, and preservation work. Today, an NSF advisory committee, senior personnel including research scientists and data analysts, an external advisory panel, and graduate and undergraduate research assistants all support the work of IPUMS International.

Malaria Transmission in Context: Linking Health, Census, and Ecological Data

January 18, 2023January 12, 2023 by mpcblog

by Yara Ghazal, Ilyana Hohenkirk, Tracy Kugler, and Kelly Searle

Malaria, like many vector-borne diseases, impacts health, economic growth, and society. The burden of malaria incidence and death is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa; in 2020, 95% of all malaria cases and 96% of all deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO, 2022). Malaria impacts not only population health but also the economic growth of these 32 countries. It is estimated that up to 1.3% of economic growth in this region of Africa is slowed each year due to malaria (CCP-JHU, 2015). Understanding malaria transmission is essential to ending its spread and creating a healthier and more prosperous future for developing nations.

The literature on malaria transmission patterns has shown that several environmental factors impact mosquito and parasite vital rates, and thus affect the transmission intensity, seasonality, and geographical distribution of malaria (Castro, 2017). Temperature and precipitation are the primary climate-based factors that influence malaria transmission patterns. Temperature creates geographical constraints for vector and parasite development. Increasing temperatures have been found to shorten mosquito maturation time and increase feeding frequency. However, areas of extremely high temperatures usually yield smaller, less fecund mosquitoes. In parallel, because mosquitoes often breed in pools formed by rainfall and flooding, the frequency, duration, and intensity of precipitation have a significant influence on mosquito populations.

IPUMS at ICFP2022

November 30, 2022 by mpcblog

by Devon Kristiansen

IPUMS was proud to partake in the International Conference on Family Planning in Pattaya City, Thailand. We participated by hosting a pre-conference workshop, sponsoring the conference, staffing an exhibit both, and presenting research as part of the conference program. The conference, held between November 14th and 17th, 2022, had 3,500 in-person attendees, with many virtual participants, as well.

Research staff representing IPUMS PMA, IPUMS DHS, IPUMS MICS, and IPUMS International conducted a 2-hour pre-conference workshop, providing participants with an overview of each of the IPUMS data collections featuring international data as well as a website and data analysis demonstration.