Finally, computers are much more adept at manipulating data to discover trends, but Nunley cautioned against overanalyzing data. Computers make it easy to break statistics down to minuscule fractions. But the figures should be used more as a guide than as a precise socioeconomic road map. You can do that on your spreadsheet and its correct statistically and mathematically, but its spurious accuracy when you start putting that out. Private businesses and government agencies rely heavily on the data, Nunley said.
Private companies can learn where their clients live and what their spending habits are.
Government service agencies, such as the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, use the data to discover how to better serve their clientele. Nunley also uses census data and other statistics for consulting work. His company, Information Pathways Inc., provides businesses with market research. He plans to obtain the newest census data and will incorporate it with other public records and information he has collected to create computer population models. Nunley once had a client who wanted to do a direct mailing to everyone in the Kansas City metropolitan area who wears eyeglasses.