Goal: The goal of this workshop is to introduce participants to demographic data primarily collected by the U.S. federal government.  Participants will learn how to access and use data for their projects.

Outcomes: After this workshop, participants will find socioeconomic demographic data for any census geographic area, create maps visualizing demographic data, and produce tables that can be downloaded into Microsoft Excel.

Description: Participants will become familiar with the data collected from the Decennial Census and the American Community Survey (ACS) and learn the differences between the two surveys.  Participants will learn how to access data from these surveys and create tables, maps, and visualizations using three databases: American FactFinder (AFF), Social Explorer, and Policy Map.

Detailed Contents:   
1. A brief overview of census surveys and questionnaires will be covered as well as census terminology and geographies.   
2. The instructor will demonstrate American FactFinder and the functionality of this search interface.   
3. Social Explorer and Policy Map will then be covered along with a similar functionality review.
4. Participants will then search for data and create data visualizations using one of the three demonstrated databases.

Computers are available in this location, Jones 105. Participants can bring a laptop if they wish.