Technical platform & interface

In addition to providing online access for almost 200 years’ worth of census data, Social Explorer’s great strength is as a visualization tool. It provides two valuable features: a robust, easy-to-use mapping tool, and the availability of detailed documentation along with a data dictionary. Interactive thematic maps based on available census geographies can be generated without any prior experience with GIS software. Users can download and print generated maps in Microsoft PowerPoint or JPEG image format, and view associated data in report form and save in Microsoft Excel or CSV formats. In addition to a few pre-made reports, custom tables can also be generated separately and downloaded. Guidance is provided on how to easily import Social Explorer data into statistical software programs, including SAS, SPSS, or STATA syntax files. The Data Dictionary and the documentation offer more information on variables, including definitions, data sources, and how variables were derived. The site also provides an animated training guide for new users.

The statistical reports interface looks almost exactly like the U.S. Census Bureau’s American FactFinder site familiar to anyone who has used the Bureau’s current data. The mapping interface is much easier to use than the thematic map feature on the Census Bureau’s website, containing drop- down lists for the data set to be mapped, the general topic, and the detailed topic. For example, the user could choose the 1940 Census County and Census Tract data, housing topics, and then map the percentage of renter-occupied housing by county. Furthermore, once the map is displayed, it can be zoomed in to a particular geographic area and saved with one click. The user can then zoom to a different geographical area or create a map of renter-occupied housing in 1950 for the same area. An entire series of maps can then be “played” within Social Explorer or exported as a PowerPoint slideshow.

One caution: the interface works best for users who are already familiar with the Decennial Census, particularly when using the older data or tracking trends over time. For example, different questions were asked over the years about transportation to work, so looking at trends in public transportation is not as easy as it appears at first. Geography can also be a complex issue when using census data. Many maps in Social Explorer can be drawn at the tract level, but tracts were created over several decennial censuses, beginning with the largest cities in 1910 but not completed until 1990. Users looking for neighborhood racial composition in Little Rock, Arkansas, during 1950 would be disappointed, and if they were unfamiliar with the development of census geographies they would not know why this data is unavailable. This of course represents a limitation of the original data rather than Social Explorer’s product, but a link to further explanation would be helpful.