Affiliations: Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of
Sociology and the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, USA | Professor of Population History, Department of History
and Minnesota Population Center, and Principal Investigator of
IPUMS-International projects, University of Minnesota, USA | Professor of Economics and Director of the Population
Studies Center, University of Michigan, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Professor of Population History,
Department of History and Minnesota Population Center, and Principal
Investigator of IPUMS-International projects, University of Minnesota,
Minnesota Population Center, 50 Willey Hall, 225 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN
55455, USA. Tel.: +1 952 334 7867; Fax: +1 612 826 8375; E-mail: rmccaa@umn.edu
Abstract: Census microdata are ideal for developing statistical literacy of
university students. Access, particularly to internationally comparable
microdata, has been a significant obstacle. The IPUMS-International project
offers a uniform solution to providing access for policy analysts, researchers,
and students to integrated microdata and metadata, while protecting statistical
confidentiality. Eighty-five official statistical agencies have endorsed
IPUMS-I dissemination principles and entrusted microdata for 249 censuses to
the project. From June 2010, 159 integrated samples, representing 55 countries
and totaling over 325 million person records, are available at no cost to
researchers and their students. The database is being expanded with the
addition of samples for 5–10 countries per year as well as samples for the
2010 round of censuses. This paper illustrates two approaches to using IPUMS-I
census microdata in the university curriculum to promote statistical literacy
among undergraduates.
Keywords: Census microdata, statistical literacy, microdata access, integrated samples, university students
