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Title: Fixing the Facts: Editing of the 1880 U. S. Census of Occupations With Implications for Long-Term Labor-Force Trends and the Sociology of Official Statistics

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 1996

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Abstract: Argues that the labor force statistics based on the 1880 federal census and published by the US Census Office are not as accurate as is often believed. This is demonstrated by using Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) to determine the percentages of youths, married women, and older men who participated in the labor force. In each case, the percentages achieved through the PUMS are significantly higher than those reported by the Census Office. The reason for this is because the superintendent of the 1880 census, Francis Amasa Walker, selectively edited the data that he received from census enumerators. Walker was particularly determined not to include those persons employed in part-time or illegal work, and thus, his labor force statistics tended to undercount many persons.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Sutch, Richard; Carter, Susan B.

Periodical (Full): Historical Methods

Issue: 1

Volume: 29

Pages: 5-24

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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