Comparability of the Public Use Files of the U.S. Census of Population, 1880–1980

Abstract

Most of the information released by the Census Bureau has always consisted of summary population counts cross-tabulated by individual or family characteristics. Although these data form the basic description of the American population, they are not ideal for analytical research. The Census Bureau cannot anticipate all the needs of social scientists, so many topics are inadequately covered in the published census volumes. For historical research, the problem is especially acute, because the published data are fairly sketchy for the period before 1940. Moreover, the classifications employed by the Census Bureau have changed over time, making long-term comparisons difficult or impossible.