IPUMS International has been living up to its name. In June and July, International staff traveled to four different conferences and braved the sweltering heat to talk about IPUMS with data users and producers, old and new. Here is a summary of their summer activities.
IPUMS DHS Now Releasing Data Multiple Times per Year
The Demographic and Health Survey program is continually collecting and releasing new data; at this writing, nineteen countries are collecting or processing data for standard DHS surveys. Researchers want the latest data for countries of interest, as soon as those data become available. To minimize the wait between the original DHS data release and the release of integrated data, IPUMS DHS is now releasing data multiple times a year.
IPUMS FAQs: Where are the Data Quality Flags for Income Variables?
At IPUMS, we try to address every user’s questions and suggestions about our data. It is just one feature that adds value to IPUMS data. Over time, many questions are often repeated. In this blog series we will be sharing some of these frequently asked questions. Maybe you’ll learn something. Perhaps you’ll just find these interesting. Regardless, we hope you enjoy.
Here’s one of those questions:
Where are the data quality flags for income variables?
2017 IPUMS Research Awards
IPUMS is excited to announce the winners of its annual IPUMS Research Awards. These awards honor the best published research and self-nominated graduate student papers from 2017 that used IPUMS data to advance or deepen our understanding of social and demographic processes.
IPUMS, developed by and housed at the University of Minnesota, is the world’s largest individual-level population database, providing harmonized data on people in the U.S. and around the world to researchers at no cost.
The Evolution of Our Physical Space
Over the last several decades, what is now called IPUMS has grown exponentially, offering more harmonized data than ever before with each passing year. This growth was made possible by an increasing number of employees, who required an increasing amount of physical space to house IPUMS HQ. We currently have an exhibit documenting the history of those spaces, following the journey as IPUMS continually outgrew its surroundings until it landed in Willey Hall.
A new exhibit, “The Evolution of Our Physical Space,” opened in April in our Seminar Room. This exhibit, which combines photographs, maps, blueprints, and other items, highlights the many spaces inhabited by IPUMS and the MPC, from humble beginnings in a single small office in 1989 to multiple spaces accommodating over 130 employees today.
Powered by IPUMS
At IPUMS HQ, we generate our own research to present at conferences—but that’s only one small sliver of the the work that is powered by IPUMS data worldwide. At the 2018 Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting, IPUMS appeared in many posters and presentations from universities and research institutions across the globe. Here are just a few examples of the work at PAA that was #poweredbyIPUMS.
Do you do work that is powered by IPUMS? If so, use the #poweredbyIPUMS hashtag, and tag us on social media! We are @ipums on Twitter and Facebook.
Bob McCaa Named 2018 IUSSP Laureate
At this year’s Population Association of America annual meeting, our very own Bob McCaa was given the honor of being elected 2018 IUSSP Laureate. IPUMS director Steven Ruggles introduced his long-time colleague at the awards ceremony. For those of you who weren’t in attendance, here is Steve’s speech.
IUSSP Laureate Ceremony at PAA
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Denver, CO
Introductory address by IPUMS Director Steven Ruggles.