Episode 16: Debunking the U.S. Census

This month's episode tackles all things related to the U.S. Census. We discussed the decennial Census, the data products created and released from the U.S. Census Bureau, the current demographic trends and challenges, and measuring hard-to-reach populations.

We spoke to Raeven Chandler, Ph.D., Director of the Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) at the Population Research Institute (PRI), and Assistant Research Professor of Rural Sociology at Penn State, and Eric Jensen, Ph.D., Senior Technical Expert for Demographic Analysis in the Population Division at the U.S. Census Bureau, about their work as demographers, both in academic and government settings, and some issues around collecting and analyzing data, especially as it pertains to the 2020 Census.

Episode Resources and Notes

• Eric mentions the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey as some examples of the many data products that the U.S. Census Bureau produces for the public.
• Eric discusses how Penn State has a Federal Statistical Research Data Center (RDC), a place where qualified researchers can access restricted microdata from a variety of statistical agencies.
• Raeven and Eric talk about some issues around collecting data in college towns across the United States. Most recently, some towns have said that they want to challenge the results of the 2020 Census.
• Raeven discusses the concerns surrounding questions about Latino and Hispanic heritage questions on the 2020 Census. For more information about that topic, this is a blog post from the U.S. Census about the issue.
• Eric mentions the U.S. Census Bureau working with two Penn State demographers, John Iceland, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography, and Jenny Van Hook, Ph.D., Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography at Penn State. He also mentions Sue Capella at the Pennsylvania State Data Center, which is part of Penn State Harrisburg.

The transcript for this episode can be found here.