Realizing the Potential of the American Community Survey Challenges, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities (2015) / Chapter Skim
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1 Vision for the American Community Survey
1 Vision for the American Community Survey
Pages 13-22
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From page 13... ...
Although there are other federal surveys that produce data on similar socioeconomic topics in greater content detail, their sample sizes are not large enough to be able to provide the same granularity as the ACS. The ACS is the primary source of data for anyone wishing to understand the characteristics and needs of small communities and administrative entities from a local 13
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From page 14... ...
This is particularly important for informing policy making in smaller, rapidly changing geographic areas, where once-adecade measurements of social, economic, or housing characteristics could quickly become obsolete. Another significant change that occurred with the transition from the decennial data collection to continuous measurement was a shift from relying on a large temporary workforce to highly trained, professional staff
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From page 15... ...
Starting in June 2011, this was increased to approximately 3.5 million housing units annually, due largely to concerns voiced by data users about the precision of the estimates, particularly in smaller geographic areas. Table 1-1 shows the ACS sample sizes since its inception, including both housing units and group quarters.
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From page 16... ...
. Overall, while sample sizes have proven adequate for larger geographic areas, the unique strength of the ACS design, as envisioned, was the survey's potential to produce population and housing estimates for the smallest of geographic areas (such as tracts, block groups, and school districts)
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From page 17... ...
• he panel will focus on methods and approaches to improve the accuracy T of demographic, social, economic, and housing information produced from the ACS for the smallest geographic areas and population groups and will advise the Census Bureau on how to communicate the changes to data users in ways that facilitate effective use of the data. • he panel will also consider data collection processes that can more T efficiently meet national and local needs for new content in the broader context of the fundamental mission of the ACS.
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From page 18... ...
There have been several recent Census Bureau initiatives targeted at understanding data users' needs. A recently conducted content review was focused primarily on understanding federal agencies' uses of the questions on the ACS, although other data users were also encouraged to provide input.
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From page 19... ...
Although the most obvious solution to the frequently voiced concern of the low precision of the small area data would be to allocate more funding to increase the sample size, the focus of this report is on methodological changes that the panel believes could enhance the value of the survey for data users with current funding levels (as stated in our charge)
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From page 20... ...
The ACS has also been serving as the test survey for several adaptive design ideas that similarly have the potential of reducing respondent burden and increasing efficiency. Chapter 3 discusses the panel's findings and recommendations for further research and enhancements to the data collection methods, which are indirectly also expected to improve data quality.
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From page 21... ...
At the same time, for small areas and population groups, the volume of data can be misleading: because of the sample size limitations, many of the estimates cannot be made available to data users. To protect the identities of respondents, the Census Bureau's Disclosure Review Board prohibits release of some estimates.
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From page 22... ...
A benefit of continuous data collection is that new content can be added to the ACS more quickly than was possible in the decennial census cycle, but the process still takes many years. Chapter 6 of the report discusses how the Census Bureau can make the ACS responsive to users' needs with the highest value content.
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