Go through the following tutorial:

• Census 2000 Tutorial
  Note: Parts I and II of the tutorial show you how to download and join geographic and tabular data so that you can map the census block group boundaries and show some basic results from the 100% survey of the 2000 census. The data you download in those parts of the tutorial are the same as you find on your GIS Data CD for Travis County, and were created using the methods described in the tutorial. Technically, that means you don't have to do those two parts of the tutorial, but we recommend them anyway because they teach some basic skills, especially regarding joining tables.
  
  Part III of the tutorial show you how to use the more detailed SF3 data from the Census (SF3 data comes from the long forms that are distributed to the population on a sampling basis) - these data sets have information on things like income, poverty, employment, educational status, family background, travel to work, etc. They are very useful data sets for more fully understanding a community. In Part III, the tutorial uses tract level data, though you could use the same methods for blockgroup level data.

Using what you have learned, create a well-organized document that includes the two tasks listed below. The assignment will be due  by class time on Feb.23.

On the GIS Data CD, the block groups layer is called census2000_blockgroups_sf1 and the tracts layer is called census2000_tracts_sf1

Part 1
Create a series of at least 6 maps showing census tract or block group data from the 2000 Census for all of Travis County. Use the same standard layout and scale for each map so that they can be easily compared. Visual comparisons also work better if you use the same color scheme for each map. You can put them on the same page if you do tabloid size print (and then arrange this to be a fold-out in your larger document), or on successive pages if on letter size paper (see the example in Dowell Myers, Analysis with Local Census Data, pp. 218-219.

Part 2
Pick any three census tracts from the study area list (see below) and describe each one based on census data. Produce both brief text description plus appropriate tables. Include key information from both the SF1 and SF3 data sets. Follow the examples provided by Dowell Myers in Analysis with Local Census Data, pp. 17-30.  Compare the 2000 census information to the same information for Travis County as a whole (one approach is to use the Geographic Comparison Tables available from American FactFinder). Include both a text description and tables as appropriate. Also include any major trends between 1990 and 2000, as best as you can discern these from the available data. Finally, include a map that highlights the three tracts (Census 2000 boundaries). (Note: several tracts in the 2000 Census are different from the 1990 Census - in each case, the changed tracts have resulted from a single tract being split in two. Take this into account if you are looking at one of those tracts - you can tell which these are by looking at the GIS layers for 1990 tracts and 2000 tracts and assigning a wide colored line to one and a thin black line to the other).

Note: except for the map highlighting your three census tracts, Part 2 of the assignment does not require GIS. You can do the descriptions and tables using a word processor and/or spreadsheet.

Study Area Census Tracts - Pick any three
14.03	23.03 23.04	23.07 23.10	23.11 23.12	23.13 23.14	23.15 23.16	24.11 24.12	24.13 24.16	24.17 24.18	24.19 24.20

Important notes and tips:

Please read through Census Assignment Tips for additional important guidance.

Notes:

Use the Census tract or block group layers that are located in the GIS_tutorial_data folders on our computers. Unlike the data downloaded from national sites, our local census data sets are in a coordinate system that matches the rest of our Austin data sets.

You do not have to use the 1990 GIS layers in this assignment. You can get 1990 data in tabular format from the Census Bureau web site for use in Part 2.

To create a map highlighting the three tracts in Part 2 of the assignment, select the three tracts interactively and create a new layer from the selection. These can then be labeled, colored or outlined differently from the rest of the tracts (see ArcGIS Desktop Help-ArcMap - Querying Maps below for guidance on this).

The following sections of ArcGIS Desktop Help will be very useful for the map-based parts of the assignment.

• ArcMap - Symbolizing your data (see especially the sections on drawing features to map quantitative data, standard classification schemes, and setting a classification)
  These sections are very important for completing Part 1 of the assignment. You will be representing quantities with color (don't use the other options for now unless you really think they are better). Experiment with setting the number of classes and with different classification methods. The default method - Natural Breaks - is usually the best, although you should then adjust the the class range so that instead of a number like 4.9-6.8, it would say 5-7.
  

• ArcMap - Querying Maps (see especially selecting features interactively, selecting features by searching with an SQL expression, displaying information about selected features, and exporting selected features)
  The ability to select features and either export them or copy them to a new layer will be useful for creating the map highlighting your three census tracts.
  Displaying information about selected features will show you how to view summary statistics about each data variable for either selected features (e.g., your three tracts) or all features (e.g., all Travis County tracts). This latter function is not required for your analysis, but is a very useful tool in general.
  

• ArcMap - Working with Tables (see especially selecting records in a table, summarizing data in a table, and joining attribute tables)
  You will be using the join capability and this is covered in the tutorial. The other capabilities - selecting records in a table and summarizing data are useful in general, but are not critical for this assignment.

Use the same color scheme on all 6 maps for Part 1. The use of different color schemes just makes the maps harder to compare.

28 January 2004
The School of Architecture at UT Austin
Comments to: mailto:bparmenter@mail.utexas.edu