the U.S. government’s Census Bureau web site American
ANTH 3333/CFA 3316 – THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE FALL 2014 • MW 6:30 to 7:50 PM • DALL 115 Homework #1 – Census Data Assignment – Due Oct. 20th in class In this assignment you will access the U.S. government’s Census Bureau web site (American Factfinder 2) which you can find at http://factfinder2.census.gov (or just Google American Factfinder 2). This site will provide you with data on the foreign-‐born population and the ethnic population of cities in the United States as well as other economic and social data for the American Community Survey data of the last several years as well as 2010 census data. If you are unfamiliar with census data, take some time to explore the interface a bit, try different settings and options to see what it is possible. The American Factfinder website is very simple to navigate. The assignment – You are to pick two cities to investigate (avoid Dallas and New York), and it is fine to pick your home city as one of the cities you study if you are not from this area. Following the instructions below, you will go to the web site, choose two cities, download and print out the data, and then analyze the data. In 3-‐5 double-‐spaced pages, describe what you have learned from the data about the diversity of the population in your chosen cities, the proportion of the foreign-‐born, the make-‐up of the foreign-‐born, differences between the city and the larger metropolitan area (MSA) of which it is a part, and the similarities and differences between the two cities you have chosen. Summarize general population characteristics as well. Address the question as to whether or not your two cities are cities of immigration, and why or why not. You may include other data discovered during your investigation that you see as important. ATTACH YOUR RAW DATA TO YOUR PAPER! If you have problems, feel free to contact me (tdubry@smu.edu) or your TA Jordan (jwondrack@smu.edu) or stop by our posted office hours. Site: American Factfinder (http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml) First, you need to select your city. On the left side of the home page you will see a series of search options. In the space under Community Facts, type in your first city with the following format: “City name, State.” Select your city from the options displayed. Click on go. On the next screen, on the left hand side you can see a listing of categories of data. When you select a category, such as Population, there is a drop down menu from which you can select you can then choose from a variety of data sources, such as the 2010 Census, the 2012 ACS, and Census 2000. You should use tables that are from 2012 American Community Survey (ACS) 5 Yr. Estimates (although where there is 2010 SF1 census data (100%) that could also be interesting; it would require digging a bit deeper into the data). You will want to spend some time looking into the different main categories of data such as age, sex, and race, but be sure to look under Origins and Language; here you will find a lot of useful information on foreign-‐born populations. Particular tables to look out for in the ACS data are DP-‐1, DP03, 04 and 05, QT H1, QTP10, QTP3, SO501, 502, 503 and 504—again always for the 2012 ACS 5 year estimates. When you have found tables that are useful, download them for analysis (and later for printing out to include with your report). You will also need to set your chosen city into the larger metropolitan area of which it is a part (for example, Dallas is in the Dallas-‐Arlington-‐Fort Worth Metropolitan Statistical Area). This is a bit trickier to do, and you may have to do some searching on the internet to discover the MSA of your chosen city. Go again to the home page. At the left you will see a selection named Guided Search; click on Get Me Started. Select the specific dataset option, then next. Choose American Community Survey, then 2012 ACS 5 Yr. Estimates, then add to selections. Click next. Under Topics, open the People option then the Origins option. To start, try selecting Foreign-‐Born and adding it to your selections. Click next. Under Geography, under the State heading you can choose Metropolitan Statistical Area/Micropolitan Statistical Area, then choose your state, then the MSA of your chosen city, then add to selections. Click next. Under Race/Ethnic Groups, choose skip this step. Click next. You should now see tables listed with data on foreign-‐born populations. Try going back and adding different selections such as Place of Birth and Year of Entry; you can move between the different steps, adding and removing selections as you like. You may find that some options do not work or the data is not available due to the selection of datasets; explore the possibilities until you get the right combination of selections. Try to locate comparable tables from your first analysis of your chosen city. Download and print these tables. Now you can compare what you found at the city level with what you found at the MSA level. Proceed to compare your first city to its broader region. Repeat all these steps for the second city. HOMEWORK #1 IS DUE ON OCTOBER 20TH IN CLASS.
