[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 94 (Friday, May 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26806-26807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10757]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of the Census

[Docket Number 040421123-4123-01]


American Community Survey Data Products

AGENCY: Bureau of the Census, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) is proposing to 
revise and expand the data products it produces from the American 
Community Survey (ACS), and is requesting comments from current and 
potential future users of ACS data products to help guide the redesign 
of these products. Our goal is to publish preliminary versions of the 
new data products by mid-year 2005 and to give data users another 
opportunity to comment further before the redesigned products are in 
final form. The ACS has been under development since 1996. Several ACS 
data products have been released every year since 1997. With full-scale 
implementation scheduled for July 2004, we are proposing significant 
enhancements to the ACS data products that the Census Bureau will 
produce every year beginning in 2006.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 14, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the Director, U.S. Census 
Bureau, Room 2049, Federal Building 3, Washington, DC 20233-0101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth R. Bryson, Program Analyst, 
Outreach and Analysis Staff, Office of the Associate Director for 
Decennial Census, on (301) 763-1911, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ACS is a very large nationwide survey 
that will collect and publish data about the demographic, social, 
economic, and housing characteristics of the population. Full-scale 
data collection will begin with the mail-out to 250,000 addresses at 
the end of June 2004. The Census Bureau plans to release a set of 
redesigned data products from the 2005 ACS, the first full year of data 
collection, in the summer of 2006. While some of the data products will 
resemble those from the development phase of the ACS, others will be 
new or redesigned.
    Census Bureau working groups have sought to improve the ACS data 
products by taking into account the previous comments and suggestions 
of data users. We have developed a preliminary version of the revised 
suite of data products and are now asking for feedback from public data 
users.
    We are requesting public comments on the current data products and 
on the proposed new products. In particular, the Census Bureau is 
looking for feedback about the basic concept of each product and its 
usefulness to you. We welcome all comments and suggestions about how 
the product could be improved.
    A special link on the ACS Web site (http://www.census.gov/acs/www/product_review/) will enable you to view examples of current and 
proposed data products. Current ACS data products are as follows:
     Base Tables (previously known as Detailed Tables)--Simple 
descriptive tabulations of basic concepts and variables, similar to 
tables in Summary File 3 from Census 2000. Summary File 3 contains 
tables of sample items from the long form of Census 2000.
     Tabular Profiles--Key summary measures, derived measures 
(e.g., medians), and collapsed distributions of variables selected from 
the Base Tables.
     Narrative Profiles--Short prose narratives with simple 
graphs based on some of the summary information in the Tabular 
Profiles.
     Geographic Ranking Tables--Tables and related graphs that 
show the rank order of geographic areas on a key statistics or derived 
measure.
    In addition to retaining the current data products above, the 
Census Bureau proposes to offer the following new products:
     Subject Tables--These are similar to the Census 2000 Quick 
Tables, and like the Quick Tables, they are derived from the Base 
Tables. Quick Tables and Subject Tables are predefined tables with 
frequently requested information on a single topic for a single 
geographic area.
     Subpopulation Profiles--This new product would provide 
certain characteristics from the Tabular Profiles for a specific race 
or ethnic group (e.g., Alaska Natives) or population subgroup (e.g., 
people ages 60 and over).
     Thematic Maps--Thematic maps are similar to Geographic 
Ranking Tables. They have the added advantage of visually displaying on 
a map the geographic variation of a key summary or derived measure.
     Analytic Reports (in an early development phase)--These 
could be short documents, two to three pages, on a single topic or 
theme, or they could be longer documents covering several topics or the 
entire content of the survey.

[[Page 26807]]

    Please go to the ACS Web site to review each data product in 
detail. If you have questions about any of the data products, please 
contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this notice.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required 
to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure 
to comply with, a collection of information subject to requirements of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), unless that collection of 
information displays a current, valid Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) control number. In accordance with the PRA, 44 U.S.C., Chapter 
35, the OMB approved the ACS survey under OMB Control Number 0607-0810. 
We will furnish report forms to organizations included in the survey, 
and additional copies will be available upon written request to the 
Director, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-0101.

    Dated: May 7, 2004.
Hermann Habermann,
Deputy Director, Bureau of the Census.
[FR Doc. 04-10757 Filed 5-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P