Data FERRET

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Data FERRET
http//ferret.bls.census.gov/cgi-bin/ferret
ccapps_at_census.gov

• A Federal Electronic Research, Review
  Extraction Tool -
• A tool of the Census Integrated and Information
  Systems (IIS)

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The Internet Environment

• Fastest Growing, Largest Information Source in
  the World
• Becoming the preferred way of delivering and
  accessing data
• Inexpensive
• Easy Access
• Powerful Tools

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The Internet Challenge

• Information Overload
• Information Hard to Find
• Data Stored by Organization
• Stovepipe Solutions
• Confusing Tool Sets

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FERRET Who We Are

• Demographic Surveys Component of IIS
• Currently in Production
• Multi-Agency
• Kinds of Data
• Household Surveys
• Administrative Records
• Timeseries
• Tables

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Objective Data Access

• Finding the Data
• Understanding the Data
• Manipulating the Data

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Finding the Data

• One Stop Shopping Promotes Use
• Multiple Kinds of Data Available
• Individual Respondent Admin. Data
• Timeseries, Tables
• Mapping
• Same Interface across all Datasets
• Find Data via Documentation/Metadata Searches

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Understanding the Data

• Definitions Attributes
• Data Relationships
• Rules for Use
• Weighting
• Graphical Presentation
• Reliability
• Security and Access Controls

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Manipulating the Data

• Ad hoc Tabulations
• File Extracts
• Interactive Graphics
• Confidentiality Display Restrictions
• Linkage to Related Data
• Reliability Information

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Data Objects Add Manipulation

• Rules of proper usage encoded with data
• Relations to other Data
• Proper Manipulations of Data
• All presentations inherit Rules
• Spread sheets, Maps, Business Graphics become
  Query tools
• Easy Movement from one Presentation to the Next

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Goal Data Network

• Allow Data Owners to put up and maintain Local
  Data
• Allow the Local data to be used with National
  Data
• Encourage Data Owners to move to common protocols
  so the data can be used with common tools, and be
  used together

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Distributed Architecture
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Surveys Available

• Current Population Survey (Census, BLS)
• Survey of Income Program Participation (Census)
• National Health Interview Survey (NCHS)
• Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NCHS)

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Other Surveys Available Soon

• American Housing Survey (HUD)
• National Mortality Statistics (NCHS)
• National Natality Statistics (NCHS
• National Fishing and Hunting Survey
• Economic Timeseries

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Potential Partnerships Pilots

• FedStats
• Centers for Disease Control
• Other Federal Agencies
• State Data Centers
• Local Governments
• The Inter-University Consortium for Political and
  Social Research (ICPSR)

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Needs

• Making the Data more Understandable
• Linking Context or Knowledge to the Data
• Dynamically
• Explaining relationships
• Supporting Multiple Vocabularies of the Data,
  Inexpensively

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Needs II

• Building systems that use Complex Adaptive
  Processes to allow the System(s) and its
  Community to Learn and Adapt
• User Owned Profiling