April 14, 2003
NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS
From: Kenneth C. Meyer Chief, Public Information Office U.S. Census Bureau
Subject: Policy on Disseminating Summary File 4 Sample Data Files to the Media
The following are the broad outlines of the Census Bureau's plans for disseminating Census 2000 Summary File 4 data from late April through September 2003.
Embargoed News Release/Product Announcement General Guidance.
Summary File 4 (SF4) is being released on a state-by-state flow basis, with a national file scheduled to follow at the end of this process. SF4 data will be available to bona fide media organizations on an embargoed basis from April 23, through September 30, 2003.
In general, the embargo period will be four working days, with the embargo time beginning each week at 12:01 a.m. (EDT) on Thursday and ending at 12:01 a.m. (EDT) on the following Wednesday. The only exception will be for the first week of state files, which we plan to embargo on April 23, 2003, at 12:01 a.m. (EDT), and release publicly at 12:01 a.m. (EDT) on April 29, 2003.
As was the case with the dissemination of previous census data, a product announcement will be distributed once the files are placed on the Public Information Office's Internet embargo page. To link to the FTP server where the data and related materials will reside, bona fide media should enter the Internet embargo page and click on "Census 2000: Summary File 4." User ID/password to access the FTP site are posted in the embargo area.
Description of SF4 Characteristics:
SF4 consists of 323 tables of social, economic, and housing characteristics compiled from a sample of approximately 19 million housing units (about 1-in-6 households) that received and answered the Census 2000 long form. Each table is repeated for 336 population groups total population, 132 race groups, 78 American Indian and Alaska native tribal categories (reflecting 39 individual tribes), 39 Hispanic- or Latino-origin groups and 86 ancestry groups. The presentation of any of the 336 SF4 population groups must meet a minimum population threshold (see chapter 1 of the technical documentation). These data sequence down to the census tract- level for the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
There are 213 population tables covering subjects such as: school enrollment educational attainment marital status grandparents as caregivers veteran status industry disability status foreign born ancestry residence in 1995 nativity and place of birth occupation language spoken at home employment status poverty status citizenship and year of entry class of worker income in 1999 commuting to work There are 110 housing tables covering subjects such as: units in structure year structure built number of rooms number of bedrooms year moved into unit number of vehicles heating fuel source plumbing/kitchen facilities occupants per room housing value mortgage status/owner costs owner costs: percent of income gross rent gross rent: percent of income SF4 state files include data for the following geographic areas: States Counties County subdivisions Places Census tracts State parts of: American Indian/Alaska native areas and Hawaiian home lands Metropolitan areas Urban areas (urbanized areas and urban clusters) The SF4 National file includes data for the following geographies: Nation Regions Divisions States Counties County subdivisions Places American Indian/Alaska Native areas and Hawaiian home lands Metropolitan areas Urban areas Where to find this information: A listing of states that have been released and scheduled for release, along with links to the corresponding product announcements and supporting data files, may be found on the Web at http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/ www/2003/SF4.html. In addition, links to SF4 data and all Census 2000 products may be found on the American FactFinder main page at http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet. CDs and DVDs may be purchased online from the Customer Service Center (301)763-INFO (4636); e-mail: webmaster@census.gov. For more information, contact Mark Tolbert in the Census Bureau's Public Information Office on (301) 763-3030.
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