Using Census Data to Understand Things​

The US Census Bureau collects a bounty of data about people in the United States. Come to the next Open Gov Chicago meet up to learn more about how you can use this data.

Joe Germuska will provide a 20,000 feet overview of key Census Bureau products, and then give a tour of Census Reporter. Census Reporter is a Knight News Challenge-funded project to make Census data easy for journalists, but there’s nothing about it that keeps non-journalists from using it. See what it can do and hear about the features which will be implemented in the next few months.

Peter Kamps, a research analyst for the City of Chicago, will talk about some specific cases where Census data helped guide decision making. He’ll explain how the Current Population Survey (CPS) can provide timely estimates of key statistics about Chicago, and he will give a demonstration of a method for adjusting American Community Survey data to the Chicago Community Area level, which can be very useful for understanding our city.