American Demographics: Roundtable Discussion: Lust for Statistics @ HispanicAd.com.

For those with an affinity for numbers, the decade-long wait is finally over.

The oasis is in sight. Demographers and researchers, who have awaited more accurate numbers on the makeup of America for 10 years, finally get to quench their thirst. Amid the changeover from a manufacturing to a knowledge-based national economy, diversity is the theme that underlies the huge national database of people and numbers. Detailed results of Census 2000 will begin to trickle out in the coming months, and social scientists, researchers, and strategists will get first dibs on plumbing the data. In late December, the Census Bureau launched the grand countdown by announcing America’s population figures-52 numbers in all, which included national and state population counts. [See Sidebar]

That was just a tease. This month and next, the bureau will develop analyses that will lead to redistricting and the apportionment of federal funds. In anticipation of all the fun to come, American Demographics canvassed some of the country’s leading demographers and market researchers for their first-blush view of Census 2000. Race and ethnicity information is, by far, the most anticipated piece of the census pie. Previously, the bureau limited racial identification to a single race, but Census 2000 allowed Americans to identify themselves as more than one race, leaving the door open to a seemingly endless combination of racial and ethnic identities. Researchers of all types are anxiously awaiting a first peek into America’s true colors.

Roundtable Discussion: Lust for Statistics

By John Fetto

CLICK below for complete American Demographics articles in March 2001:

http://www.demographics.com/publications/ad/01_ad/0103_ad/ad010303.htm

Courtesy of American Demographics.