The Panel on Estimates of Poverty for Small Geographic Areas was established by the Committee on National Statistics at the National Research Council in response to the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. That act charged the U.S. Census Bureau to produce updated estimates of poor school-age children every two years for the nation's more than 3,000 counties and 14,000 school districts. The act also charged the panel with determining the appropriateness and reliability of the Bureau's estimates for use in the allocation of more than $7 billion of Title I funds each year for educationally disadvantaged children. The panel's charge was both a major one and one with immovable deadlines. The panel had to evaluate the Census Bureau's work on a very tight schedule in order to meet legal requirements for allocation of Title I funds. As it turned out, the panel produced three interim reports: the first one evaluated county-level estimates of poor school-age children in 1993, the second one assessed a revised set of 1993 county estimates; and the third one covered both county- and school district-level estimates of poor school-age children in 1995. This volume combines and updates these three reports into a single reference volume.

Sample design is key to all surveys, fundamental to data collection, and to the analysis and interpretation of the data. Introduction to Survey Sampling, Second Edition provides an authoritative and accessible source on sample design strategies and procedures that is a required reading for anyone collecting or analyzing survey data. Graham Kalton discusses different types of probability samples, stratification (pre and post), clustering, dual frames, replicates, response, base weights, design effects, and effective sample size. It is a thorough revision and update of the first edition, published more than 35 years ago. Although the concepts of probability sampling are largely the same, there have been important developments in the application of these concepts as research questions have increasingly spanned multiple disciplines, computers have become central to data collection as well as data analysis, and cell phones have become ubiquitous, but response rates have fallen, and public willingness to engage in survey research has waned. While most of the volume focuses on probability samples, there is also a chapter on nonprobability samples, which are becoming increasingly important with the rise of social media and the world wide web.

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a major new initiative from the U.S. Census Bureau designed to provide continuously updated information on the numbers and characteristics of the nation's people and housing. It replaces the "long form" of the decennial census. Using the American Community Survey covers the basics of how the ACS design and operations differ from the long-form sample; using the ACS for such applications as formula allocation of federal and state funds, transportation planning, and public information; and challenges in working with ACS estimates that cover periods of 12, 36, or 60 months depending on the population size of an area. This book also recommends priority areas for continued research and development by the U.S. Census Bureau to guide the evolution of the ACS, and provides detailed, comprehensive analysis and guidance for users in federal, state, and local government agencies, academia, and media. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Introduction PART I: Using the American Community Survey, 2 Essentials for Users 3 Working with the ACS: Guidance for Users PART II: Technical Issues, 4 Sample Design and Survey Operations 5 The Weighting of ACS 1-Year Period Estimates 6 Weighting and Interpreting ACS Multiyear Estimates PART III: Education, Outreach, and Future Development, 7 Important Next Steps References Appendix A Acronyms and Abbreviations Appendix B Controlling the American Community Survey to Postcensal Population Estimates Appendix C Alternatives to the Multiyear Period Estimation Strategy for the American Community Survey Appendix D Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff Index to Executive Summary and Chapters 1-7 Committee on National Statistics