Abstract
Previous research has highlighted the difficulties of using the American Community Survey (ACS) to produce stable estimates of persons-per-household (PPH) at the county-level (Swanson and Hough 2012). Estimates of PPH and other demographic characteristics are made even more difficult using the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) due to the questionable quality of the base population and household estimate controls for Puerto Rico. This research demonstrates that treating the PRCS as a probability survey of households can produce relatively stable PPH. Specifically, PPH estimates can be determined by computing a weighted average of household size (and ignoring persons’ weights and household sums-of-weights altogether). Taking this finding one step further, this research evaluates the stability of other household distributions from the PRCS and notes that the slight differences in the universes captured between the PRCS and Decennial Census can produce biased estimates when using the PRCS as a direct replacement for the long form of the Decennial Census. This chapter concludes with comments on the “promises and pitfalls” of the PRCS, highlighting the roles that the PRCS can play in future estimates while also being cautious of the biases that are inherent in the sampling structure and errors in previous estimates.
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References
Swanson, D. A., & Hough, G. C. J. (2012). An evaluation of persons per household (PPH) estimates generated by the American community survey: A demographic perspective. Population Research and Policy Review, 31, 235–266.
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Appendix
Appendix
Share age of householder 55+: census interpolated and weighted distribution
Share age of householder <35: census interpolated and weighted distribution
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Kaneshiro, M., Pierce, C. (2017). Promises and Pitfalls of the Puerto Rico Community Survey: Lessons from Persons-Per Household and Household Distributions. In: Swanson, D. (eds) The Frontiers of Applied Demography. Applied Demography Series, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43329-5_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43329-5_10
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