Urben research in ethnic, demographic and household-economic structures with small area, micro-databases (abstract only)
Authors: Benenson Harold , Just Steven 
Published: April 2007

Computerized U.S. Census data has been most widely used for (1)
employment, fertility, demographic and stratification research
involving Public Use Sample (PUS) microdata on the national level,
and (2) applied research (for planning, administration, marketing,
and other applications) with summary (aggregated) data for
localized (i.e., block, tract, community, etc.) geographic units. A
third, highly productive avenue of research, involving Census PUS
micro-data for localized urban units (i.e., SMSAs, counties and
especially selected large-city neighborhoods), has not received the
attention it merits, either among sophisticated public data users
or among novice users.Three forms of current or future small area,
Census microdata constitute resources for urban research. First,
conventional 1970 Census PUS data sets are available for counties
and/or SMSAs (with minimum populations of 250,000). Second, special
tabulations for the two largest U.S. cities permit analysis of 1970
household and person records group by (sub-county) urban
neighborhoods (27 in New York City; 12 in Chicago). Third, 1980
Census microdata, by allowing identification of geographic areas of
smaller population size (100,000 population), will vastly expand
the applications of localized research with the conventional PUS or
special tabulations. In addition, the 1980 PUS microdata will, for
the first time, allow comparative time-series analyses of county
(or SMSA) area populations, over the 1970-1980 decade.In contrast
to national PUS microdata research, local level analyses have the
advantages of (1) smaller data set size and processing costs, (2)
more immediate integration of computerized research hypotheses with
additional sources of (qualitative) information and questions
(stemming from direct knowledge of the communities studied), and
(3) increased ability to zero in on specialized ethnic,
occupational-industrial, migrant, age, etc. urban population groups
which are disproportionately represented in particular local
environments. Our own research projects (at various stages of
development) which attempt to exploit these advantages include
computerized analysis of:1. Patterns of household composition, and
source and structure of family income, among Upper East Side and
Upper West Side Manhattan residents with family incomes of $
50,000. or more (as reported in the 1970 Census)2. Employment
patterns of married women of Cuban immigrant background, in
relation to family class position and period of immigration, for
Hudson County, New Jersey3. Contrasts in the occupational positions
and household patterns of first-generation and second-generation
husbands and wives of Italian background in a New York City working
class community (Astoria-Long Island City, Queens)4. Wives'
employment patterns in relation to ethnic background and husbands'
occupations and income levels in a working class community located
in a manufacturing center (South Side, Chicago)5. Change in the
social and demographic characteristics of succeeding groups of
migrants to an expanding "sunbelt" metropolitan area (Albuquerque,
New Mexico)6. Contrasts in local housing markets and housing
availability, involving analysis of the number and characteristics
of vacant housing units for New Jersey counties.These, as well as
other projects we have assisted, have been undertaken with varied
software resources, including packages (such as CENTS-AID) with
unique hierarchical file processing capabilities, as well as more
versatile (non-hierarchical), general purpose packages (such as
SPSS). The advantages and research applications of small area,
micro-databases can be realized with a range of software techniques
and user-formulated research strategies.