HNDS-I: Decennial Census Linkage Project

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

The Decennial Census Linkage (DCL) project will link individual records from the 1960 through 1990 censuses and create tools to improve the dissemination of these data. When combined with already-available linkages between the censuses of 1940, 2000, 2010, and 2020, DCL will complete a massive longitudinal data infrastructure covering almost the entire U.S. population since 1940. The resulting data resource will revolutionize our understanding of human behavior and life in the United States, providing transformational opportunities for research, education, and evidence-building across the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. In addition to making research possible that is not feasible with any currently available data, the DCL will advance the science of record linkage, expand access to restricted federal data resources, and provide training to a diverse group of students and early-career scholars. The DCL project has two main objectives. The first is the development and implementation of methods to create linkages across the 1960-1990 censuses, using the available information in each year. The project will also evaluate the quality of linkages across the entire data series. The second objective is to facilitate access to the longitudinal infrastructure inside and beyond the Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs). The project will develop high-quality public documentation and synthetic data files for researchers. The project will also provide support for researchers and FSRDC staff to develop proposals to access the restricted data and create toolkits for researchers working with the linked data in the FSRDC research environment. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.