Demographic Aspects of Rural Change Assignment

For this assignment you will use the U.S. Census to describe the demographic make up of your rural place for two periods and analyze the changes that have taken place.

1. Locate census data for your place at two different time periods (2000 and 1990) using the census.gov web site. For this exercise it will be best if you use county level data. Some of you however may have rural areas that are part of partly or mostly urban counties. If this is the case you may use a smaller census geography unit, or potentially use an adjacent mostly rural county as an analogue. It is possible that the census geography for your place may have changed between these two censuses. That's OK. Do the best you can to account for the changes in your paper.

2. Note statistics for each time period. You may want to create a spreadsheet to keep track of them.

3. Write a 3 to 5 page report that
a. Describes the demographic characteristics of your rural place first 2000 and then in 1990.
b. Notes significant changes in the demographic characteristics of the place.
c. Attempts to explain what may have led to these changes.

4. The specific statistics that you choose to focus on are up to you however, there are some basic statistics (and questions) that you should probably focus on. These include:
a. Total population (Is your place growing or declining in population and what does that mean?)
b. Age structure (Is the population older or younger? Is the population aging or is it getting more youthful? Why do you think this might be?)
c. Gender balance (Are the more men than women or vice versa?)
d. Racial and ethnic characteristics (What is the racial and ethnic makeup of your community? How has it changed? Why might that be?)
e. Economic statistics including average income, poverty rate, etc. (Are the residents of your area rich? Poor? Average? What is the poverty rate? How does it compare to the national average?
f. Anything else you think might be important. (Housing characteristics could give additional insight into rural conditions; commuting statistics might indicate how connected the region is to urban areas, etc.)

A good report will
" Provide an overview of current (2000) demographic characteristics of your place.
" Provide an overview of past (1990) demographic characteristics of your place.
" Describe significant changes (or lack of changes) in basic areas including total population, age structure, racial and ethnic makeup, and economic well being.
" Cite specific statistics derived from the Census.
" Include analysis of the demographic statistics that makes plausible inferences about their meaning.
" Be 3-5 pages in length and follow the standards for written work for the course.

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