Today, the Census Bureau released a summary of feedback received on the first round of the 2010 demonstration data product for the Demographic and Housing Characteristics File (DHC) (v. 2022-03-16). We are grateful to those who shared their thoughts and analyses with us. Your feedback helped us understand where additional improvements in the disclosure avoidance system are needed. 

We received 18 comments during the March 16 to May 16, 2022, feedback period. Of these, 14 are included in the summary analysis because they provided analyses on the fitness-for-use of the data. Four comments were excluded from the summary analysis because they were requests for clarification or technical issues identified with the files. The summary provides a breakdown of the comments by affiliation type, concern, topic, geography, and commentor recommendation.  

The most common concerns were accuracy for age data and inconsistencies between the person and housing unit files. Commentors continued to be concerned about accuracy for children and specific geographies, such as counties and “off-spine” geographies.1 Where possible, improvements based on these comments and review by our own internal subject matter analysts will be reflected in the second-round demonstration data product slated for release in August. That release will also include additional age detail at the tract level, an addition prompted by data user feedback on the 2020 Census Data Product Planning Crosswalk last fall.   

Regarding person and unit file inconsistencies, commentors recognized that they are an intentional feature of the disclosure avoidance protections, but several expressed concern about the number of inconsistencies they found. Our own research has found that increasing the accuracy of the unit files should decrease inconsistencies, and we are testing that solution; however, uncertainty about whether the estimate in the persons or unit file is closer to the estimate from the Census Edited File is an essential feature of the DAS.  

Other commentors raised concerns about accuracy for tenure (i.e., owner or renter occupied), household type, and household size. In addition, some concerns were regarding geography and availability of data. These concerns are discussed more in the summary.  

Please visit our web site for the full summary, including the feedback received.  

New – Updated Data Product Release Schedules 

We recently posted two new web-based fact sheets regarding the 2020 Census data products release schedule. These include a comparison of the timing of releases from the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, and a chart providing more details about the planned availability of data at different geographic levels by the specific 2020 Census data product.  

Graphical timelines outlining development plans for both the DHC and the Detailed DHC-A are also available online.  

As always, please reach out to us at 2020DAS@census.gov with any questions or comments. 

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¹ Learn more about the “geographic spine” for census data in the handbook “Disclosure Avoidance for the 2020 Census: An Introduction.”