SBIR Phase I: Census Microdata in the Classroom

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to research ways to increase accessibility and utilization of census microdata in secondary school mathematics classrooms. Historically, microdata published by the Census Bureau as part of each decennial census has rarely been used in schools for lack of access and lack of software tools to handle it. The Internet and the availability of software tools such as KCP Technologies' Fathom tm change this situation dramatically. In collaboration with the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) project at the University of Minnesota, this project will develop streamlined interfaces with which students can use the World Wide Web to gather data from one or more Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the country from any of the census back through 1850. Research into modifications to the Fathom software will aim to develop new and better ways to gather data from the Internet, to create enriched data structures, and to design other functionality particularly well-suited to working with microdata. New curriculum and professional development materials created in this project will provide a means for teachers to begin using census microdata in mathematics and statistics classrooms. The proposed research will lead to licensing opportunities for the software technology already embodied in Fathom software, web-based technology for gathering and analyzing microdata, curriculum products to be sold to schools, and an increased market for Fathom in education.