UNST Health, Happiness, & Human Rights : Demographics
Demographic Profile Resources Intro
The term demographics refers to particular characteristics of a population. The word is derived from the Greek words for people (demos) and picture (graphy). Examples of demographic characteristics include age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, income, education, home ownership, sexual orientation, marital status, family size, health and disability status, and psychiatric diagnosis.
-Lee, M., & Schuele, C. (2010). Demographics. In Neil J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Research Design. (pp. 347-348). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Using statistics and numbers can give you a lot of information about any given area, and will help you draw your own conclusions about that place's story or give you a picture of what it's like. This page contains links to information and data sources that will help you in completing your demographic profiles. Step-by-step instructions on using Social Explorer to compile the data for your demographic profile are on the Creating a Demographic Profile page.
Portland Neighborhoods & Census Tracts
Other Data Sources
- Portland MapsCity of Portland site for metropolitan area geographic data. Search by street address or geography for many types of data including assessed and market values, as well as elevation, crime data, and school district information. More info...
- USDA Food Access Research AtlasPresents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility...
- USDA Food Environment AtlasProvides a spatial overview of a community's ability to access healthy food, and assembles statistics on food environment indicators.
Finding Demographic Information
- Social Explorer
This link opens in a new window
Social Explorer is an online research tool designed to access current and historical U.S. Census data and demographic information. It contains maps, profile reports, data elements, and variables. - PolicyMap
- This link opens in a new window
Provides mapping, data, and analytics tools on U.S. demographics, real estate, health, jobs, education, and more topics. Mapping allows for multiple layers and editable data ranges.
Library Session Feedback
Please help us improve this part of your project and course by providing your feedback on the brief survey linked below. Your responses are anonymous, and questions you include will be answered and sent along to the entire class.