Employment Opportunities
Research Guidelines
Research Data
Research Locations
Discussion Papers
Forms & Documents
The Center for Economic Studies (CES) is a research unit of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, established to encourage and support the analytic needs of researchers and policy makers throughout government, academia, and business.
The CES research program -- carried out both by CES permanent staff and by research associates from outside the Census Bureau -- is centered on the empirical analysis of confidential microdata collected in the Census Bureau's regular survey and census programs. The research associates -- Census Bureau customers and data users with analytical interests -- carry out research projects using secure CES Bureau facilities. By providing access to these data, CES creates a constructive interchange among the Census Bureau, researchers, program sponsors, and other major data users and policy makers in the government, business, and academic research communities.
The CES research program takes advantage of a natural coincidence of interests between the Census Bureau and its data users -- particularly those with analytical research agendas, such as academic researchers and governmental agencies that fund Census Bureau data programs. Analysts want to use the data to conduct important economic research, and data program sponsors wish to obtain the highest payoffs from their expenditures on data. To satisfy both objectives often requires access to the microdata.
Other models exist for providing secure access to the data. One such model is remote submission of research programs for CES employees to run, with results being returned to the researchers after examination to prevent disclosure of confidential data. Most researchers have emphatically rejected this model because, they felt, the interactive nature of research and the need to obtain a "feel" for the data requires direct "hands on" access. Moreover, by providing data users with access to survey microdata at CES facilities, the Census Bureau can more easily obtain direct feedback from users on their experiences in using the data. The use of economic microdata at Census Bureau facilities for analytic research exposes the limitations of the data, provides guidance for improvement of Census Bureau survey programs and data products, and helps the Census Bureau to develop new data products.
