Data Sources

Although it is still in development, the American Community Survey (ACS) will track long range demographic, social, and economic indicators at the community level. Pending Congressional funding, it is scheduled to be fully implemented by 2007. The innovation of the ACS is that it will provide more up-to-date data at the local level on an annual basis as opposed to every ten years. By providing the same quality information more regularly than the decennial Census, full implementation of the ACS will eliminate the need for a long… more

Under the ACS, 3 million household will be surveyed, covering every county, American Indian and Native Alaska area, the Hawaiian Homelands, and Puerto Rico. With a nationwide sample of 3 million addresses, the ACS will provide demographic, social, economic and housing annual profiles for areas with 65,000 or more people. For communities of less than 65,000, it will take 3 to 5 years to accumulate a large enough sample size to provide estimates similar to the quality of the census… more

The AHS is conducted by the Census Bureau for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The same housing units are surveyed each year, providing continuity that increases the usefulness of the data set. The sample has been the same since 1985. The AHS provides national data every two years and each year provides data for a rotating set of 12 metropolitan areas. The national data, published in years ending in odd numbers, is based on a survey of… more

BLS data must satisfy a number of criteria, including relevance to current social and economic issues, timeliness in reflecting rapidly changing economic conditions, accuracy and consistently high statistical quality, and impartiality in both subject matter and presentation.

The information provided by the CPS is available by: age, sex, race, marital status, and educational attainment, occupation, industry, and class of worker. Supplementary information is provided by the survey on topics including: school enrollment, income, previous work experience, health, employee benefits, and work schedules. Data from the CPS is used to calculate the official poverty rate each year.

This regulation applies to most financial institutions that make mortgage loans, including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other mortgage lending institutions. In 2002, there were approximately 28 million loan records for calendar year 2001 reported by 7,631 financial institutions.

Using the loan data submitted by these financial institutions, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) creates aggregate and disclosure reports for each metropolitan area that are available to the public at central data depositories located in each area. The aggregate… more

The Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan conducts and administers the PSID. Various groups including the National Science Foundation and government agencies such as Office of Economic Opportunity of the Department of Commerce have funded the study.

While the initial set of families have been in the study since 1968, the total number of families participating has increased over time from 4,800 to over 7,000 in 2001. The sample is anticipated to increase… more

Approximately 4,500 families are randomly selected from all economic strata to voluntarily participate in the confidential survey. If a family declines to participate, no alternate family is selected to be surveyed. While the data provided by the SCF is not provided by any alternate study, the SCF is similar to the 1962 Survey of Financial Characteristics of Consumers and the 1963 Survey of Changes in Family Finances, which provided similar information.

Conducted by the Census Bureau, the survey is a continuous series of national panels, with sample sizes ranging from approximately 14,000 to 36,700 interviewed households. The duration of each panel ranges from 2 1/2 years to 4 years. The SIPP sample is a multistage-stratified sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. For the 1984-1993 panels, a panel of households was introduced each year in February. A 4-year panel was introduced in April 1996. A 2000 panel was introduced in February… more