Chapter 25: Characterizing Local Demographic Contexts
Peter A. Morrison is an applied demographer, retired from the RAND Corporation where he was the founding director of RAND’s Population Research Center. His principal interests are redistricting and, more generally, the analysis of demographic trends and their consequences for public policy and business. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the RAND Graduate School, and the Helsinki School of Economics. He has been elected as President of the Southern Demographic Association and as a Director of the Population Association of America.
Thomas M. Bryan is a data scientist and former Census Bureau statistician, with extensive experience using Census Bureau data.
This comprehensive manual provides a user-oriented overview of U.S. Census data and demographic methods for redistricting applications. It addresses current issues and concerns accompanying the creation, adjustment, and evaluation of election districts and plans that incorporate them using 2020 Federal Census data. It meets the needs of local governments, citizen redistricting commissions, parties to litigation, and practitioners using Census data for political redistricting. The book provides many examples of technical problems that analysts will encounter when applying these data, supplemented by extensive case studies illustrating these technical issues and how they can be addressed. The book is a source to consult for insight, background, and concrete examples of specific issues and concerns and how to address them. As such this comprehensive reference manual is a "must have" for applied demographers, data scientists, statisticians, citizen redistricting commissions, parties to litigation, practitioners, and any analyst or organization engaged in political redistricting using US decennial census data.