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From: "James Mikesell" <mikesell@ers.usda.gov> on 2/3/2003 12:44:13 PM
Subject: Future AHS publications

For many years, the AHS published volumes repeated the full set of
"occupied units" tables for the US total and 8 different subgroups.
Since the 1997 publication, only 5 subgoups have been published, with
Central Cities, Suburbs, and Outside MSA's tables dropped.  I would like
to see these tables brought back.  The reason for doing so now is more
than overcoming the incovenience of  having to do one's own tabulations
from the AHS public user file.  For these categories, 1990 definitions
are used in the published "occupied units" tables, but detailed
information can only be tabulated from the PU file for the old 1980
geography.  I'm sure that the tables I'm suggesting will no longer be
included in the paper report, and some sort of web publication would be
fine.  As it is now, those of us interested in information more detailed
than that available in the limited initial tables for these
deliniations, can only revert to using the 1980 geography.  In fact
using 1980 rather than 1990 deliniations makes little difference for
central city statistics, but often has a significant impact on those for
suburbs and non-msa areas.  Hopefully bringing back such tables would
not present a confidentially concern.  While less important, since
researchers could always produce their own, providing similar tables for
each Census region might also be worthwhile if it could be done easily.
In terms of web format, I would like to have both html and Acrobat, with
html my top pick if limited to a single choice.

Jim Mikesell
Senior Economist
Economic Research Service, USDA
mikesell@ers.usda.gov



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From: paul burke <numbersinstitute@juno.com> on 2/4/2003 12:55:19 PM
Subject: Re: AHS: Report Redesign Opinions Sought

Comments on future AHS report design, from Paul Burke,
NumbersInstitute@Juno.com :

1. I think you have a good proposal overall. I would suggest:

2. Keep all stubs in chapter 2, including the few that duplicate chapter
1 or are technical, and adding the few that are currently only in
specialized tables. There are 3 reasons: (a) it is important to have
items like units in structure & bedrooms crossed by such occupancy
characteristics as physical problems, or recent movers; (b) seeing
technical items like degree days will remind readers of their importance
in the national housing market (if it's important enough to collect or
put on the tape, it's important enough to publish; and (c) chapter 2 will
then be a full well-organized guide to the data available.

3. You did not mention the ownership items that are only in chapter 3. I
recommend they be printed in chapter 2.

4. Relegate tables 1B through 1D to the web too

5. Avoid any HUD section with comments on state of the market. Whatever
topics are chosen will give the impression of political selection, and
lessen credibility of the simple data.

6. Add a note to the header or footer of every table and every index
page, noting the web address of additional tables, so people remember
they can easily get more detail. Plan not to change that web address for
at least 10-20 years, so people reading this book 15 years later can
still find the web tables. This means registering a specific address for
this purpose, which can point to whatever Census or HUD page in the
future holds the data.

7. Print the index at the back of the book in the same size type as the
tables, and single-spaced, to save a great deal of room

8. Print about 3 pages of the appendix on errors, up through the
paragraph on "Differences". It is important for people to know what the
errors are.

9. For the web I like HTML, but only if you could make them printable,
which as you say is probably not possible. A big issue is what will stay
readable for decades. What does the industry think of the permanent
upward compatibility of pdf & html? I doubt if they will be readable in
20 years.

10. Spreadsheet formats have been very unstable over the last 20 years. I
stongly suggest comma-and-quote-delimited, fixed-format, ascii instead of
xls. The "Picture of Subsidized Households" files were done in this
format so they can be directly read, or imported into most software. That
gives you one fairly permanent format, and you can pick your second
format for readability today. The combination of comma-delimited and
fixed format is accomplished by padding each number with leading zeros,
and omitting commas inside numbers, but putting a comma before each
number. There are two reasons to pad with zeros instead of blanks: (a)
some programs that derive from COBOL and some data base programs do not
accept blanks in numeric fields; and (b) when printing the data, zeros
usually print at the same width as 1 through 9, while blanks print
narrower, so there is more flexibility without blanks in the data.
Comma-delimited files are more widely accepted than tab-delimited files.

11. What is the cost of a few bound paper copies, with all web tables
too, on acid-free paper, to keep at Hud & Census libraries & Library of
Congress, and any research library that pays for them? Not to address
disabilities but for historians.

On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:08:39 -0500 AHSlistserv@huduser.gov writes:
> From: American Housing Survey (AHS) ListServ <ahs@huduser.gov>
>
> As I mentioned in my recent update on the state of the AHS, we are
> beginning to work on redesigning the printed report.  Our aim is to
> distribute a lot less paper and put more of the details on the web.
> This
> message summarizes what we're thinking about doing, as of right now.
>  All
> of it is subject to change.  I earnestly entreat you to give us
> your
> comments.
>
> It may be helpful if you read this message with a copy of one of
> our
> current reports handy to look at.
>
> PAPER REPORT:
> My current vision of the new paper report is that it will consist of
> only
> the first two chapters of the current report (all housing units and
> all
> occupied units).  Each table will be only the lefthand-side of the
> current
> two-page spread.  Redundant material in Chapter 2 will be removed,
> leaving
> only those rows that specifically need occupied units to make sense.
>  (For
> example, "units in structure" or "number of bedrooms" will be in
> Chapter 1
> only.)  We may also prune some of the specialized tables and
> rowstubs from
> these chapters (for example, degree days).  The appendicies will be
> reduced
> to just appendix A.  The other appendicies may be one-page
> summaries, with
> URLs directing you to where you can find the full appendicies on the
> web.
> If the Census clearing process will allow it, we may add a short
> introductory essay on the current state of housing, written by HUD
> (we use
> more adjectives than they do).
>
> ON THE WEB:
>
> The more detailed chapters from the current report, plus the
> righthand-side
> columns, would be published on the web.  We are discussing some
> combination
> of HTML tables, PDF files, and spreadsheets.  Right now, it will
> probably
> be two of those, but it might be all three.  One technical point
> which we
> are hoping will help is that the Census Bureau works in SAS now, and
> SAS
> has something called the Output Delivery System (ODS) which will
> output
> tables in each of these formats by just changing a keyword in the
> source
> code.  On the other hand, if you have any experience with that sort
> of
> promise, you know that what you get often needs some manual
> tweaking, and
> that may well nullify the work saved through automation.  We'll have
> to see
> how well ODS can deliver.
>
> An important consideration for any government distribution of
> information
> is that we have to make sure that at least one form is accessible
> to
> persons with disabilities.  This is called "Section 508 compliance."
>  For
> tabular data, we're mainly concerned with being compatible with
> various
> "screen reader" programs that turn tables into sound.  Some of
> these
> presentation formats can embed tags in the documents that help the
> screen
> readers keep their place in complex documents.
>
> HTML:  Similar to what we have now, but designed to make printing
> easier.
> There is an inherent problem with HTML in that what you get depends
> on the
> hardware and software at your end, and so the designer has to make
> some
> assumptions about the minimum requirements.  Importing the numbers
> into
> other software for manipulation or reporting is relatively easy.
> Printing,
> especially for wide tables, can be difficult or impossible.  HTML
> can be
> used with screen readers, if the right codes are embedded.  It's not
> clear
> whether this embedding can be automated.
>
> PDF:  Best for printing.  Most people like to have some tables on
> paper (I
> know I do).  Hardest for exporting the numbers to other software.
> Not as
> good for screen readers, although this is improving.  Larger
> documents can
> be bookmarked, so that subsections can be found with the click of a
> mouse
> (although this is not currently being done with AHS reports).  We
> have to
> give some though about whether we want to publish PDF tables one at
> a time,
> in chapter-size documents, or as one big document (as we do with
> the
> current report).
>
> Spreadsheet:  This probably means Microsoft Excel format, since that
> is the
> most widely used.  Spreadsheets are easiest to manipulate.  Users
> will have
> to purchase their own spreadsheet software.  Screen readers can work
> with
> spreadsheets, although the documents have to be designed with this
> in mind.
> Not as handy for online viewing.  As with the PDFs, we have to think
> about
> how to bundle the tables.
>
> It is possible that we may decide to make the format available in
> all three
> formats.  While this does increase the amount of server space that
> the AHS
> needs, a more important consideration is the burden of maintaining
> three
> sets of files and keeping them synchronized through updates and
> corrections.
>
> We would like to know what you think of these plans.  I'm sure that
> there
> are important factors that just haven't occured to us yet.  Any
> concerns or
> suggestions you have should be mentioned as soon as possible.  By
> all
> means, send your response to the entire listserve, so that others
> can see
> them.  That may inspire other users to suggest things that they
> wouldn't
> have thought of otherwise.  Remember that  if you do want to respond
> to the
> listserve, you must enter the address (AHS@huduser.gov) int the To:
> field
> of your message.  If you just do an ordinary reply, the message will
> go to
> me only.
>
> Dav Vandenbroucke
> Economist
> U.S. Dept. HUD
> david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
> 202-708-1060 ext. 5890
>
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> This message was forwarded to you by the Listserv ahs@huduser.gov
> because
> you had expressed an interest.
> To stop receiving these messages send an email to ahs@huduser.gov
> with "unsubscribe" as the SUBJECT of your message.
> To reply to all members of the list address your reply to
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> For help send an email to helpdesk@huduser.gov
>
>
>


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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 2/5/2003 3:18:24 PM
Subject: AHS 1999 & 2001 Income Limits File Updates



The income limits files for the 1999 and 2001 AHS have been updated to correct an error in the poverty income (IPOV) calculation. When I updated the CPI array in the program, I didn't notice that the denominator in the inflation adjustment was hard-coded. Thus, we were dividing by the wrong value. The error affected IPOV only. The fair market rent and income limit values in the file are unchanged from earlier versions.

My thanks to Darryl Wills of USDA-ERS for bringing this problem to our attention.

You can download the corrected files from the 2001 and 1999 web pages of HUD USER:

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html

As I write this, the revision dates on those pages have not been changed, but the links do point to the updated files.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: "Henderson, Holly Jane (UMC-Student)" <hjh428@mizzou.edu> on 2/6/2003 1:49:38 PM
Subject: [OT] Community Development Academy




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Research Assistant
Community Development Academy
University of Missouri-Columbia
http://www.ssu.missouri.edu/commdev/cda/cda.htm

 


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From: "Tatian, Peter" <PTatian@ui.urban.org> on 2/10/2003 3:00:52 PM
Subject: Efficiency apts in 1998 DC metro

We have found what appears to be a large discrepancy between the number of
efficiency (i.e., no bedroom) apartment units reported by the 1998 AHS metro
survey and the number of such units reported by the Census.  For the
Washington, DC metro area, table 2-3 of the AHS printed report for 1998
indicates that there are about 4,300 renter-occupied efficiency housing
units.  The Census reports, however, that in the same counties corresponding
to the AHS metro area there were 47,767 and 69,400 renter-occupied
efficiency housing units in 1990 and 2000, respectively.

The AHS report we are accessing is at
http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/h170-98-18.pdf.

Any ideas as to why the AHS estimate is so far from the Census estimates?
The definitions appear to be similar across the two sources.  The estimates
for units of 1 bedroom or larger reported by the AHS seem to be consistent
with those reported by the Census.  So, the problem seems to be isolated to
the no bedroom units.

We have reviewed the AHS data anomalies report for 1998 on the web site and
this issue is not mentioned.  We have not checked the numbers for other
metro areas to see if a similar problem occurs, however.

This leads me to a more general question about data checking for the AHS.
Is there any systematic procedure for comparing AHS estimates to
corresponding Census ones to see if there are large discrepancies?

Thank you for any insights that anyone may have.

Peter A. Tatian
Senior Research Associate
The Urban Institute

ptatian@ui.urban.org
http://www.urban.org




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From: David_A._Vandenbroucke@HUD.GOV on 2/11/2003 11:14:55 AM
Subject: AHS CD-ROMs Now Cover Everything From 1973 to 1999



Every American Housing Survey dataset and report from the 1973 through 1999 surveys is now available on CD-ROM. The 2001 CD-ROM is still in production. CD-ROMs can be ordered from the HUD USER web site (www.huduser.gov) or by phone (800-245-2691). The price of CDs ranges from $15 to $50 (for no readily apparent reason).

I have prepared a Microsoft Word document that lists all of the CDs and provides a guide for microdata users. However, I don't want to send an attachment to the entire mailing list. If you want a copy, please send me a private email (david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov). A version of this guide may appear on the web site in the future.

It isn't news, but I do want to remind you that the microdata for all the surveys beginning with 1995 (including 2001) can be downloaded from HUD USER, and most of the reports (1975-2001 National, 1984-1998 Metro) can be downloaded from the Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/ahs.html).

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 3/24/2003 9:36:28 AM
Subject: AHS: 2001 Documentation Update



HUD USER has a new documentation package for the 2001 national dataset, downloadable from https://www.huduser.gov/datasets/ahs/AHS2001document.exe. This is a very minor update, correcting the descriptive statistics of some of the alterations & repairs variables to reflect the dataset update that we did last Fall. I was the one who allowed the faulty descriptives to slip through. Thanks to Dave Brewer of the University of Cincinnati for bringing it to my attention.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: "Mitchum, Drew" <dmitchum@nahb.com> on 3/31/2003 1:52:10 PM
Subject: Is there a way to determine if someone other than the reference p erson was the respondent?

All-
I am interested in identifying if someone other than the reference person
for a household answered the survey.  Is there a field in the AHS that
provides this information?

Thanks,
Drew
----------
Drew A. Mitchum
Economics and Statistical Research Manager
Economics Group, NAHB
1201 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20005
1-800-368-5242 ext. 8698



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From: barbara.t.williams@census.gov on 3/31/2003 3:52:21 PM
Subject: Re: Is there a way to determine if someone other than the reference p erson was the respondent?



----- Forwarded by Barbara T Williams/HHES/HQ/BOC on 03/31/2003 03:42 PM
-----
                Barbara T
                Williams                 To:      dmitchum@nahb.com
                cc:
                03/31/2003 02:03         Subject: Re: Is there a way to determine if someone other
                PM                       than the reference p erson was the respondent?(Document
                                  link: Barbara T Williams)



Use the DLINE1 variable.  It contains either the line number of the person
who is the respondent, or  (prior to 1997) a code for the type of
respondent for a vacant interview, such as "91" = landlord.

Since the automated instrument has been used, the respondent for vacant or
URE interviews is stored in a new variable, named RESPTYP.  Unfortunately,
this has a different set of codes than the old DLINE1 codes.

The codebooks for the respective years contain the meaning of the
DLINE1/RESPTYP codes.



                AHSlistserv@hudus
                er.org                   To:       Barbara.T.Williams@census.gov
                cc:
                03/31/2003 01:53         Subject:  Is there a way to determine if someone other than
                PM                        the reference p      erson was the respondent?
                Please respond to
                dmitchum





From: American Housing Survey (AHS) ListServ <ahs@huduser.gov>

All-
I am interested in identifying if someone other than the reference person
for a household answered the survey.  Is there a field in the AHS that
provides this information?

Thanks,
Drew
----------
Drew A. Mitchum
Economics and Statistical Research Manager
Economics Group, NAHB
1201 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20005
1-800-368-5242 ext. 8698


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This message was forwarded to you by the Listserv ahs@huduser.gov because
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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 4/7/2003 10:20:49 AM
Subject: AHS Income Compared to CPS



A new paper, " Discrepancies Between Measured Income in the American Housing Survey (AHS and the Current Population Survey (CPS)," by Scott J. Susin of the Census Bureau, is available for download in PDF format from http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/papers.html.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890



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From: PMBUSINESS@aol.com on 4/7/2003 2:48:53 PM
Subject: Re: Welcome to the ListServ

digest on


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From: "ArtTravis" <ATravis@Apex.Net> on 4/7/2003 4:32:58 PM
Subject: not me


i don't want to unsubscribe;
 
i think this information is great;
 
art travis, engineer
benton, ky


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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 4/8/2003 8:49:35 AM
Subject: RE: AHS Income Compared to CPS



Some people have reported trouble with the link to Scot Susin's paper, http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/papers.html. The link works fine for me, but that's what they always say, isn't it? You can download the paper directly from http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/hudmemo8a.pdf. If you still have problems, I can send you the paper via email.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: Craig Hatchett Sr <hatchett_19146@yahoo.com> on 4/9/2003 3:21:39 PM
Subject: Subscribing

I think this info is great!

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From: "Gary I. Gilbert" <Gig1@Surewest.net> on 4/10/2003 9:14:28 PM
Subject:


i don't want to unsubscribe


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