economic census questionnaires, and all subsequent economic census geocoding. The historic geocodes on the establishment records for physical location and subsequent geocoding were defined as the previously assigned 1997 economic tabulation geocodes. The 1997 economic to current census recede file was one of two historic recode files created uniquely for use in the economic census geocoding process. Clustering Program Module The purpose of the establishment cluster review process was to identify multiple establishments reporting to the same address. This situation often occurs when the address reported for an establishment was the mail address, not the physical location address. Once identified, the establishment clusters were eligible for review and address correction where applicable. An establishment cluster was defined by SSSD as a group of establishment records with a common address and industry code. Address types requested by SSSD for consideration in the clustering program module were: structure number and street name, building name, and post office boxes. The criteria for industry codes considered in the clustering program module was limited to those requested by SSSD. The GEO clustering program module selected a subset of control file records that later became part of the input for the traditional clustering process. The GEO clustering program module was incorporated into the initial control file geocoding only. Control file records that met the criteria defined by address type and industry code were identified and written to a separate file, along with their standardized address, for further establishment cluster processing by ESMPD. The traditional automated clustering was programmed and executed by ESMPD for the 1997 Economic Census. County Code Change File The purpose of the county code change file was to convert the 1992 county codes to the 1997 county code structure. The GEO provided a one-to-one recode in this file. Only counties with code changes were included in the county code change file. For whole county changes, the file contained one county record with its historic state and county codes (1992) and its current (1997) state and county codes. When one 1992 county split into two counties for 1997, the file contained a record for each 1992 qualifying economic census place. Prior to creating questionnaire mailing labels, ESMPD used the county code change file to recode the 1992 county codes assigned to establishment records. County Alpha Recode File The purpose of the county alpha recode file was to convert the FIPS county code to a six-character abbreviation of the county name, which was printed on the questionnaire mailing label. The ESMPD performed the county 54 Chapter 6 alpha recode operation after the county code changes had been made. The county alpha recode file contained one record for each 1997 county or county equivalent. Geographic Stub File The purpose of the geographic stub file was to provide the staffs of the subject-matter divisions with the ability to insert geographic entity names in the stubs of the publication tables and other data products. The "stub" is the list of geographic entities in the left column or in the boxhead. This file contained all the information necessary to convert the geographic codes associated with establishment records to the publication geographic entity names for publications and other data products. The stub file had one record for each of the following • Metropolitan area (Metropolitan Statistical ■ Division. • State or state equivalent (included the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, ships at sea, three offshore areas for mineral industries, foreign establishments, and nationwide establishments), plus one record representing the United States as a whole, in the same format as a state record, with a state code of "99.❞ County or county equivalent, plus a record in each state or state equivalent for "undistributed," used for industries with operations not designated to specific counties, and a county record for each offshore area. • Consolidated city. ■ Place and place part within county (qualifying economic census places only). For consolidated cities that contained separately incorporated places, this file had a record for each consolidated city, each separately incorporated place that qualified for economic census recognition, and each consolidated city balance. Each place record included the place description, which distinguished between various types of places and the ways they related to metropolitan and urban areas. Subject Review City Reference File (CRF) The purpose of the subject review CRF was used by the economic census subject matter divisions to facilitate their review of the geographic coding and tabulation results. The subject review city reference file was an extract of the city reference file used for general geocoding. It contained History-1997 Economic Census all post office name, state abbreviation, and ZIP Code combinations from the city reference file, collapsed to the economic census tabulation geocode level. Geographic Notes File The purpose of the geographic notes file was to identify and document geographic changes that occurred between January 1, 1992 and January 1, 1997, as well as any changes that occurred prior to January 1, 1992, but were reported too late for inclusion in the 1992 Economic Census. The geographic notes file was used to prepare appendixes for the relevant census report publication products. The types of changes documented in the geographic notes file were ■ Economic census-recognized places that were in more than one county and the names of the counties in which each multicounty place was located. • Places Located in More than One County. ■ Census of Mineral Industries: Offshore Areas. • Places in 1992 Economic Census, Not in 1997 Economic Census. ■ Places in 1997 Economic Census, Not in 1992 Economic Census. ZIP Code Legality File The purpose of the ZIP Code legality file was to provide a source of all legal ZIP Codes within each state or state equivalent. GEO provided ESMPD with a file extracted from the U.S. Postal Service's City State File. The ZIP Code to state relationships were extracted from the City State File and supplemented with additional relationships from the CRF. GEOCODING PROCESS Freestanding Geocoding System For the economic census the GEO developed a freestanding geocoding production system that encompassed the geocoding software and all reference files necessary to meet the geocoding processing requirements of the economic census. After extensive testing, the economic census geocoding production system was installed on the ESMPD computer platform in November 1997. The installation included a comprehensive production test that ensured all components were performing as required on the ESMPD platform. The GEO general purpose geocoding system was used as a basis for the economic census geocoding system. Modifications were made to meet the specific requirements of the economic census. The Census to Economic Recede File, the 1992 Economic to Current Census Recode File, and the 1997 Economic to Current Census Recode File were incorporated into the general purpose geocoding system to provide conversions between decennial census based geocodes and economic census tabulation geocodes. For the economic census, place level geocodes were required for all establishment addresses, including those without a structure number and street name type address. To meet this requirement, both detail geocoding and header geocoding were needed. The process referred to as detail geocoding matches the structure number and street name part of an address to the Address Reference File to obtain geographic codes. The process referred to as header geocoding matches the last line components of an address (post office name, state abbreviation, and ZIP Code) to the CRF to obtain geographic codes. For the economic census, both detail and header coding were linked to ensure all establishments addresses received the most accurate codes based on the address information presented to the geocoding system. The Census to Economic Chapter 6 55 Recode File converted the decennial census based geocodes from the general purpose geocoding programs to the economic census tabulation geocodes. City Reference File (CRF) The CRF contained records that link the post office name, state abbreviation, and five-digit ZIP Code (referred to as the last line of an address) to its associated decennial census state, county, MCD, and place codes. Each CRF record contained a post office name, state abbreviation, and five-digit ZIP Code. In addition to the official post office names and alternate names, the CRF also contained variant spellings for post office names and postal neighborhood names, together with supplementary county name information for matching county names when a county name response is given. The GEO general purpose geocoding system matched to a CRF with decennial census based geography. Modifications made uniquely for the economic census geocoding system subsequently converted the decennial census based geocodes to economic census tabulation geocodes. Address Reference File The Address Reference File (ARF) was an extract of the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) Files, reformatted and reorganized to a convenient matching structure. The ARF contained street address information from TIGER linked to its associated state, county, tract, and block codes. The components of the street address were house number, street name, and ZIP Code. The geocodes and linkages associated with each ARF record could be associated to all of the higher level geographic codes. The GEO general purpose geocoding system matched to an ARF with decennial census based geography. Modifications made uniquely for the economic census geocoding system subsequently converted the decennial census based geocodes to economic census tabulation geocodes. Legality Files The legality files were maintained by GEO for general geocoding applications. The purpose of the legality files was to provide a source of geographic codes, names, and other attributes for editing legal geographic codes in other files, for assigning attributes based on geographic codes, and as a source of information for the geographic stubs for publications. The Census to Economic Recode File, the 1992 Economic to Current Census Recode File, and the 1997 Economic to Current Census Recode File were added to this group of files as part of the modifications made to the GEO general purpose geocoding system uniquely for the economic census. VALIDATING AND UPDATING INCOMING DATA Responses to the 1997 Economic Census were received by mail or telephone at the National Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where respondent records underwent data entry processing. In turn, ESMPD staff, each night, processed address information received from respondents in order to update the geocodes on the Standard Statistical Establishment List (SSEL). The SSEL functioned as the Census Bureau's register of all business addresses. This updating continued throughout the 1997 Economic Census processing operations. The geocoding system referred for EPCD review any establishment that it was unable to fully code, or that had been assigned a low confidence code (e.g., only a state code assigned with no corresponding county or place code). EPCD staff, often in collaboration with GEO staff, checked problem records against maps and other sources of geographic information and made corrections to the records. Subject-matter staff also participated in identifying problems. During their review of geographic tabulations, analysts found some individual establishments, or groups of establishments, that appeared to have questionable codes. GEO staff researched the geocodes to determine correct tabulation geography, and returned the referrals to subject matter staff for retabulation. In sum, the goals established by the (Geographic Interface Team (GIT) in 1994 had excellent results for the 1997 Economic Census. The freestanding geocoding production system was successful in meeting the requirements of this census, and set the pattern for future economic censuses. 56 Chapter 6 History-1997 Economic Census |