Abstract
CensusCD+Maps is a GeoLytics software package that combines U.S. Census data and value-added software in which the user can extract U.S. Census data and shape files and place them into reports or maps for analysis down to the block group level. Data and shapes files generated in CensusCD+Maps can be examined with CensusCD+Maps or exported for analysis in another package in a variety of file formats. Although the screenshots in this guide are taken from CensusCD+Maps using 1990 data, the information is largely transferable to all the GeoLytics products available in EDS. This guide has been largely reproduced from the GeoLytics product docmentation.
This guide includes the following sections:
Introduction
This document is intended to give a quick orientation to CensusCD+Maps and provide a few detailed explanations about the software and census-related terminology. The help section on the CD has more detailed definitions of data terminology plus technical documentation from the Census Bureau to help make sense of the language of demographic statistics. A specific help section is dedicated to explaining the map viewer and is available from both the main help contents and the map viewer itself. For more information on CensusCD+Maps and the map viewer, see GeoLytics' documentation in PDF format: CensusCD+Maps.
The main dataset available on the CensusCD+Maps CD is the 1990 Summary Tape File data which is available down to the block group level. Other data available on CensusCD+Maps include demographic and consumer spending Estimates (1997) and Projections (2002) from the state level down to the block group and U.S. County Time Series statistics such as crime, federal spending, agriculture, industry, employment, and vital statistics at the county level across the United States.
Getting Started
Before starting, create a work directory in My Documents using your UNI as the directory name .
CensusCD+Maps is located in the Applications folder and in the Start Menu under Programs -> EDS -> CensusCD.
How to Create a Map or Report
There are five main elements to the pulldown menu structure in CensusCD+Maps necessary to create a report or map: File, Area, Subarea, Counts, and Run. These basic commands are needed to select the data for creating a report or a map. The File menu allows you to establish a directory or path for naming and saving your output files, controls where reports will be written, and allows you to retrieve previous request parameters (i.e. the geographic and demographic selections). The Area pulldown menu allows you to select the overall geographic area for which you want data. The Subarea menu determines how an area and its data are to be broken down into smaller geographic units (this is extremely important). Fourth is the Counts menu, which allows you to choose your variables of interest. Finally, the Run pulldown menu is the last step necessary in creating a report. The Run menu allows you to decide on whether or not to generate a report in one of a variety of file formats or a map. Other menu items such as the Search and Options pulldown menus provide powerful tools for fine tuning your results.
Detailed information about the CensusCD+Maps menus and other more specialized reporting options not described in this document are available: CensusCD+Maps Detailed Menu Information. Also, please note most of the menu commands in CensusCD+Maps are also on the toolbar located across the top of the window. See the next section for details and other reporting options.
To begin, you must click on the File menu and select New Request. This will determine both the name of your request file and your subsequent output files and where they will be saved. If this step is skipped, requests and output files will be given the default name of "noname" and will be stored in the default (My Documents) directory.
Then you must select your overall geographic area of interest using the Area menu. First select the Area menu and then select the Geographic Areas submenu which displays the 16 possible geographic levels to choose from. In this case we are selecting "Counties".
This brings up the following screen for choosing our specific county or counties of interest. Multiple units at a geographic level can be selected at one time, such as more than one state or more than one county. We recommend you consider the largest geographic area of interest when defining your Area and then break it down using the Subarea/Smaller Areas menu options. If you are unsure of what area you are looking for, see the information about the Search command in the Detailed Menus Information document.
Click on Done when you are finished with your selection. HINT: You can find micro help at the bottom of any screen which will suggest the remaining steps needed to create a report. (Screen shots below have been cropped for size.)
The next step is to subdivide the area using the Subarea menu > Smaller Area feature. When you select the Subarea/Smaller Areas menu choice CensusCD+Maps will display only the valid breakdowns for the larger Area you have chosen. In our example the options are Counties, Tracts, Block Group, and MCD. We are selecting Block Group.
HINT: Selecting smaller areas is a required step for most reports. If you wanted to see the results for several counties you would have selected them under the first step, Geographic Area, and then select a Smaller Area of County (or Block Group, or Tract, or MCD, etc.) depending on how you want the results broken down. YOU MUST SELECT A SMALLER AREA IN ORDER TO CREATE A THEMATIC MAP!
Then choose the variables you are looking for. The Counts menu is where specific variables are chosen. We can select specific variables under the Tailored Count option but in this case we'll choose a Standard Report which has similar demographic data within a category already selected.
The following screen appears with the standard report choices you can choose from on the left hand side. The right hand side shows the variables which are included in the selected report. (Please note if you use the Tailored Counts command you'll get a selection window with three sections and you have to pick the individual variables you want.) In our example we want Median Household Income which is found on the Income, Poverty report. (If you are unsure of the variables available use the Search menu.)
We are now ready to generate a simple data report, file, or a
thematic map. If you select 'List Report' from the Run pulldown
menu, CensusCD+Maps will generate a plain text report which lists the
counts (variables) you selected for the geographic area of interest by
your subarea selection, while selecting 'Dbase File' will generate a
similar file in .dbf format. Files generated using the
'List Report' or 'Dbase File' options include variable names by
default. Choosing 'ASCII File' allows you to save the file as either
a comma delimited .csv file or a tab delimited text file
with or without the variable names as a header. Selecting Map
generates a .dbf file in addition to a picture of a map
which can either be saved as a .bmp file or exported in
either ESRI (.shp) or MapInfo (.mif)
format. In this example, we are going to create a map.
If you select Map from the Run menu, CensusCD+Maps will generate
both a .dbf file containing your data and a map (based on
the geographic area you selected) such as the one below:
Finally, the user has the option of customizing their results by
changing the data themes, ranges, and color schemes working within the
map viewer. The map viewer will let you print out your map (along
with options to include a legend, the file name, and a second title)
or save it as a .bmp file which can be imported or pasted into
most word processing, spreadsheet, and graphics
packages. CensusCD+Maps also lets you export boundaries and data in
desktop mapping formats (ESRI).
There is even a
calculator for creating and displaying virtual variables based on data
in your report.
