If a large number of data users identify a need for some category of geographic area unmet by the existing standard units, they can request that the Census Bureau consider and develop a new geographic concept that it will apply uniformly in aggregating the data collected in its current and future censuses. This occurred in the past when the Census Bureau developed and expanded the census tract program, when it developed the concept of UAs, and when it issued and refined the guidelines for voting district data tabulations.
Alternatively, individual users with highly specific geographic needs can request a special tabulation in which the Census Bureau will provide a one-time reaggregation of the data it collected into a specific area or set of areas; the Census Bureau provides data tabulations for nonstandard geographic areas upon receipt of reimbursement for relevant costs from the requesting person or agency. The Census Bureau’s User Defined Areas Program (UDAP) offers this capability.
Definition, delineation, and user understanding of the various geographic entities used for data collection and reporting have been, and remain an important part of, the Census Bureau’s mission, both in terms of fulfilling its obligations to the data user community and in conducting its data collection operations. To ensure that the data the Census Bureau presents for these areas are useful, the geographic entities used in the tabulations must reflect a meaningful geographic structure. To achieve this goal, the Census Bureau must consider carefully the various approaches others use and/or advocate to classify the Nation’s land, institutions, and settlement. Because it is not always possible for the staff of the Census Bureau to know the geographic units most appropriate for classifying people and establishments in a particular census or sample survey, they must rely on the judgment of, and participation by, local, State, tribal, and other Federal officials. Consequently, it is important that these officials, as well as all data users, understand the types of geographic entities the Census Bureau uses in its data collection, tabulation, and dissemination processes.
Census Bureau Geography1-5
