State Profile 2013, published by Woods & Poole Economics, is a resource which has compiled well over 100 pieces of economic data for the years 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2011, and 2015, with additional projections for the years 2015, 2020, 2030, and 2040 for the nation, states, metropolitan areas, smaller urban agglomerations, and counties. Included in Kent State's reference collection is only the publication with pages for Ohio, but data for all states can be purchased. The data ranges from purely demographic (population by age and race) to education, employment, income, industry, and sales information.
I could see this information forming the basis of a variety of geographically focused economic studies. The data itself comes from various sources: the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Census and American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Woods & Poole Economics itself. The paper version is a three ring binder with loose leaf pages contained inside; I assume that each year new data and new projections are released (though I could not determine the frequency from Woods & Poole's website). In paper form, the data is displayed in tables. Each geographic area takes up two full pages. Thankfully for researchers, a CD form of the publication exists as well, with datasets available as CSV (comma separated values) files. In this form, the data can be displayed and manipulated using spreadsheet and database software, such as Excel, SPSS, ArcGIS, SAS, and others.
The scope of the data is within the realms of political science and economics, but it could all be related to other data to perform new analyses of economic phenomena. From the website, data from any state can be purchased either in print, on CD, or downloaded. The nature of the way data is collected can impart bias, and the publisher makes sure to note that the accuracy is not guaranteed. However, the publication itself has only compiled data and performed projections and calculations; presumably very little bias went into this process. At the start of the volume there are descriptions of each indicator to explain exactly what is contained in the data. The most current year in the data set is 2011, but changes have been made in the 2013 version to include more information. Projections extend to 2040.
I chose to review the State Profile because I was intrigued at how the nature of data (and more importantly accessing it) has changed. I couldn't imagine having to manually tabulate the extensive calculations that went into releasing this data set. Nor can I imagine manually performing the analysis it is intended for. Economists of today have the blessing of statistical software and quick, immediate access to data that researchers of former generations would have never dreamed of. This publication seems o be relatively accessible with clearly labeled data fields. However, often times when dealing with raw data things are not so clear, which makes me think back to the first week, reading about data repositories. I foresee less and less of printed data sets of this type; but with slew of data being stored digitally, I hope it is curated in a way that it will be discoverable and accessible to researchers.
Woods & Poole Economics, Inc. (2013). 2013 State Profile Ohio. Washington, DC: Author.
I wonder if there has been research as to how people answer census surveys, especially when many are irritated to be doing it at all. How many households either fudge or are skipped, and how many would it take to be statistically significant in certain analyses? I agree that raw data, especially in economics, can be difficult to use. Unfortunately, I also wonder about the methodology, standards, or biases underlying data collation and interpretation. Thanks for sharing the resource; one of the print sources I considered was similar, if less comprehensive.
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