Analyzing Census Microdata

The use of census microdata - which is the extremely detailed information collected through the 'ultracensusing' of a small number of households at the time of the last census - forms an important part of many research activities in subject areas as diverse as geography, demography, sociology, economics, politics and statistics. It is vital that the researchers know how the data was collected, which statistical techniques are useful and why, and how to model the data in order to draw inferences about the whole population. Analyzing Census Microdata meets and is relevant to a wide and international market. Analyzing Census Microdata - written by some of the leading authorities in the field - provides the first guide to the analysis of census microdata, with the basic statistical summary techniques presented in a clear and concise way. It contains a large number of up-to-date examples, drawing on data from the USA, the UK and a wide variety of other international contexts. I concludes with a chapter discussing applications specific to census microdata - such as the ethnic composition of families in Great Britain and in the United States, and a cross-national examination of Chinese immigrant populations.

Angela Dale is Director of teh Census Microdata Unit and Professor of Quantitative Social Research at the Univeristy of Manchester.

Clare Holdsworth is at University of Liverpool.