DPLS News April 1994 What's Out There? Numerous Federal agencies have important statistical programs that distribute data. Some of these agencies may already be familiar to you, such as the Bureau of Census in the Department of Commerce, which collects and distributes the decennial census. But other agencies supply key statistical data to researchers. This article will summarize a few of these agencies and their data products. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) sponsors surveys and analyzes, publishes, and disseminates statistical information on crime, victims of crime, criminal offenders, and operations of justice systems at all levels of government. More than two dozen data collection series have been developed by BJS using a variety of methods, including household interviews, census and sample surveys of criminal justice agencies and of prisoners and inmates, and compilations of administrative records. Data series include the National Corrections Reporting Program, the National Crime Surveys, and the National Jail Censuses. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects data from 57 state education agencies that report data for over 83,400 public schools and 15,400 local school districts. A wide variety of surveys are conducted by NCES. These include: Schools and Staffing Survey, High School and Beyond, the National Longitudinal Study, the National Education Longitudinal Study, and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which includes statistics on institutional characteristics, fall enrollment, faculty salaries, earned degrees conferred, and the finances of higher education. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is the principal vital and health statistics agency of the Federal Government. Vital statistics include data on births, deaths, induced terminations of pregnancy, fertility, life expectancy, marriages and divorces. Data are collected through either population-based surveys (personal interviews or examinations), or record-based surveys (laboratory tests, hospital, nursing home and physician records). More than 500 public-use data files have been made available by NCHS. These include the National Health Interview Survey, the Longitudinal Study of Aging, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the National Survey of Family Growth, and the National Medical Expenditure Survey. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is one of the principal data gathering agencies. In the broad field of labor economics, BLS collects data relating to employment; employment projection; unemployment and other characteristics of the labor force; prices and family expenditures; wages, worker compensation, and industrial relations; productivity and technological change; and occupational safety and health. Most of the data are collected in surveys conducted by BLS, such as the Consumer Expenditure Survey series, or on a contract basis by the Bureau of the Census or other agencies. Examples in this latter category are the Current Population Survey series and the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience. Many of the data sets described above are available to users of DPLS via our membership in the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). For more information, contact library staff. Statistical Agency Funding The Fiscal Year 1995 federal statistical agency budget hearings have begun in the Senate and the House, and there have been some changes proposed from the previous fiscal year. The Census Bureau is requesting sizable funds to conduct the 1995 Test Census. This begins the major decennial census funding process and the amount received in this budget may be indicative of future funding as we move towards the year 2000 census. For Fiscal Year 1994, the Bureau of Labor Statistics received additional funds to conduct a parallel Current Population Survey using the old methodology (see article on page 3) along side the new survey. This effort will probably continue, if funding is allowed, through 1996. For FY1995, BLS is also requesting funds for revising the Consumer Price Index. This is a multi-year effort which will be completed over a six-year period. Finally, the Bureau of Economic Analysis has requested funds to develop accounts that bring the environment into economic measurements--the "Green Gross Domestic Product" initiative. The Data Extraction System (DES): (Formerly Known as SIPP-On-Call): In 1991 the Census Bureau began the SIPP-On-Call, an on-line computer service for making data extractions from Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) public use, micro data files. This system has proven to be a successful and popular tool for allowing general public data users to have access to very large data files. The system accomplishes this by allowing users to specify their own 'data extract', or subset of the master data file, in their choice of one of several data formats. The extracted data can then be down-loaded to the user's local computer for research and analysis purposes. Recently some Current Population Survey (CPS) data files have also been made available through this system, and the availability of more data from other sources is planned for the future. Since the SIPP-On-Call system no longer supplies SIPP data alone, it may now be referred to as the Data Extraction System (DES). A new prototype version (4.1) of the DES software is available via the Census Bureau's Internet system. To access the Data Extraction System: 1.) Telnet to gateway.census.gov 2.) Login with the username of 'desuser' 3.) Press return when asked for a password. Expect to see more and more data available via DES in the future! A New CPS The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census to keep track of unemployment in the U.S. population. Since 1940, it has become the primary source of information on the labor force. There have been vast changes in the Nation's socioeconomic life in the past 53 years. Thus, CPS is redesigned to reflect major changes in the labor force, such as the growth of service jobs, more women in the workforce, and the profusion of alternative work schedules. Starting with the January 1994 CPS, a new instrument is being used to collect data. The questionnaire has been changed to obtain more accurate, comprehensive, and relevant information: questions are more specific; definitions of the concepts are included in the questions; response categories have been reformatted; and there are some minor definitional changes for "discouraged workers" and "part time job." The data collection method has also been modernized. Instead of a paper-and-pencil questionnaire, the 1,500 trained and experienced Census Bureau interviewers will use laptop computers to collect information. CAPI (computer-assisted personal interviewing) allows for complicated skip patterns and standardized probes, as well as for questions that are tailored to an individual's situation. Furthermore, it allows responses to be entered directly into a data base. Automation can eliminate errors resulting from the use of incorrect skip patterns, and check for internal consistency and for out-of-range responses. Using economic and demographic data from the1990 census, the Census Bureau is currently doing a sample redesign. The new sample will be introduced in April of 1994. By July 1995 the entire CPS sample will be based on the results of the 1990 census. Please refer to three articles titled "Overhauling the Current Population Survey" in Monthly Labor Review (September 1993) for further information about the CPS redesign. Recent Data Acquisitions U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, Base year, First Follow-up and Second Follow-up [CD-ROM version]. (QD-020-006) U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. High School and Beyond 1980: Sophomore and Senior Cohort Second Follow-up (1984) [Administrator and Teacher Survey]. (QD-011-018, additional parts received: Vocational Educators and Heads of Guidance) U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Census of Governments, 1987: Employment Statistics. (JC-003-010) U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Survey, June 1992: Fertility and Birth Expectations. (Order pending) U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Employment Service, and the North Carolina Occupational Analysis Field Center. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT): Revised Fourth Edition, 1991. (Order pending) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. National Medical Expenditure Survey, 1987: Survey of American Indians and Alaskan Natives (SAIAN)--several parts. (Order pending) CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll #1, August, 1992. (LA-083-001) The Internet Corner BLS Launches LABSTAT Public FTP Site Twenty-six surveys are currently available for downloading from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' new data server, including the Consumer Price Index, Employee Benefits Survey, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, various productivity indices, Employment Projections by Industry, etc. As the README document explains, all data are found under the /pub directory. This is further divided into subdirectories called "time.series" (data), "news.release" (containing the two most recent BLS news releases), and "doc", which contains survey specific documentation and the file "overview.doc" which lists all available datasets and explains the documentation structure. FTP to stats.bls.gov, and login as anonymous. A well-designed and useful source. Census Bureau Joins the Internet In March, 1994, the Census Bureau announced a new Internet-accessible information site, accessible either through Gopher or Mosaic (a World-Wide-Web-based graphical interface and hypertext tool). Established more as an information site for reporters than a data server for social scientists, the site contains many informational fact sheets and postscript files, press releases, and directories, but as yet contains little actual data other than some government finance data, access to the DES software for SIPP and CPS (see page 2, this issue), and pointers to gopher servers that do have 1990 census data online (such as the University of Virginia, etc.) Other items of interest are statistical software from the International Statistical Programs Center, some government finances data, and research papers from the Center for Economic Studies. Stay tuned to see how this site grows. To access via Gopher, type "gopher gopher.census.gov". To access via Mosaic use URL http://www.cens.gov. Federal Reserve Board Data Online Thanks to the Internet Multicasting Service, an archive of all PC diskettes published by the Board in 1993 is now available via Gopher. Each dataset is available in compressed format in either ".sit" (Macintosh), ".tar.Z" (Unix), or ".zip" (PC) format. The major directories are: Flow of Funds Tables; Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization; Reserves of Depository Institutions; Weekly Series on Assets and Liabilities of Large Commercial Banks; Selected Interest Rates; Money Stock Measures and Components; Other Federal Reserve Data Tables. From a machine with a gopher client simply type "gopher town.hall.org" to browse or download data. European Information Market Guide The I'M Guide is a free online directory of information products and services publicly available in Europe. It includes more than 2,500 online databases and databanks, as well as CD-ROM and CD-Image products, and profiles of over 1,700 data producers. For each data product, the guide has detailed information about the contents, subject coverage, updating frequency, size, and media availability. The online guide is produced by DG XIII/E of the Commission of the European Communities and is available in all nine official languages of the European Union. Users can connect to a user-friendly, English-language, searchable interface through ECHO (European Commission Host Organization) by typing "telnet ECHO.LU" (or 158.64.1.51). Users may login as a guest user by typing LGUEST at the login prompt, or register for your own account by sending email to echo@echo.lu.