The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "Factfinder" ...
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Covering Migration
This tipsheet describes how to use the Census Bureau's new American Community Survey to track local migration rates each year. Overberg explains why this data is important and how to analyze it.
Tags: population; census; migration; moving; IRS; factfinder.gov
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Sifting the Census: How to find the numbers you need
This tipsheet provides step-by-step instructions for getting the most out of 1990 and 2000 Census information from the Census Bureau's American FactFinder. Also included is information on comparing 1990 to 2000 Census data.
Tags: Census; Census Bureau; American FactFinder; population; survey; 2000 Census; 1990 Census
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American FactFinder: Getting just a little local census data
This tipsheet teaches you how, with just a web browser and a spreadsheet, you can narrow census data down to just one mall area like a county or a neighborhood. The trick is using American FactFinder, the Census Bureau's data dissemination site. This tipsheet goes over the basics of that site and how to navigate through it.
Tags: www.factfinder.census.gov; data sets; census information
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American FactFinder: A beginner’s guide to getting just a little local census data
How does a beginner with just a browser and a spreadsheet keep from drowning in oceans of census data? One way is American FactFinder, the Census Bureau’s data dissemination site. After a long, clumsy development stage, it has steadily improved. It offers so much -- and several ways of finding it -- that it takes a little work to learn the navigation. But it’s now pretty simple to drill down to a small area, extract just a little data and download or print it. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting just one county worth of neighborhood-level data on one subject, a typical task for many newsrooms. The example uses Census 2000 public and private school enrollment for Bucks County, Pa., but you can adapt as needed:
Tags: None
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Twelve Easy Census Pieces
The census is good for a variety of stories, but sometimes it's hard to keep coming up with them. Bass lists twelve easy story topics that can be gleaned from census data.
Tags: data; factfinder; statistics; race
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American FactFinder: A guide for journalists
This how-to guide navigates through the Census Bureau's American FactFinder website, showing tips and tricks for getting the most out of the information.
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Census 101
This is a must have tipsheet for those who have always wanted to work with the Census but never had the courage to wade through the terminology and other barriers. Doig defines much of the Census terminology from SF3 to PUMS and more. He also explains some of the statistics behind the different Census data. Another important piece of information included is what is asked and what isn't in the survey.
Tags: Census; SF1; SF2; SF3; SF4; PUMS; summary file; Public use microdata sample; tiles; tracts; questionnaire; survey; statistics; American Factfinder; story ideas
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How to Find the Numbers you Need
Roberts gives a great how-to on using Factfinder to add illustrative statistics and numbers to your stories.
Tags: census; factfinder; localizing; computer assisted reporting; beat reporting; local; better watchdog; statistics; comparing numbers; numbers
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Downloading Data from American FactFinder
This tipsheet explains how to use the American FactFinder feature found on the U.S. Census website, www.census.gov.