VT Census Case Studies : Bureau of Labor Statistics - Occupational Employment Statistics

Created by ziemer, last modified by molfe on 10 Jun 2015

Brief Overall Description of the Dataset:

“Employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations” with data broken down by census areas.

Link: http://www.bls.gov/oes/

Date Inventory Completed: 6/4/15

Screening

  • Is the data collected opinion-based?
  • Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • For Education: Is the data collected at least the school level? 
  • Can we access the data by August 15th?
  • Can the data be linked to other education/workforce datasets (e.g., K-12, higher education, workforce)? Can be linked through metropolitan areas or states.

 

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

“The OES program is the only comprehensive source of regularly produced occupational employment and wage rate information for the U.S. economy, as well as States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in each State.”

  • Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?

It is collected to provide general information on wages and occupations to the government and general public. It brings together hundreds of different types of occupations into specific categories. The BLS releases the information.

  • Who else uses the data?

Many employment divisions of the BLS, job seekers, and employers as well as the government

  • Who do they sell the data to?

N/A


Method

  • What is the data collection method? 

Semi-annual mail-in form.

  • What is the type of data collected? 

Administrative

  • If designed, who created the questions?

N/A

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? 

A sample of businesses filling out forms on occupations, salaries


Description

  • What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?

Workforce

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

1988-2014

  • Is data collected and available periodically?

Yes

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

Approximately one year.


Selectivity (conversely, the representativeness)

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents (consider inclusion/exclusion criteria)?

Sample of businesses that produces nationwide estimates.


Accessibility

  • How is the data accessed? 

Online

  • Is it open data?

Yes

  • Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?

No

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

N/A

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? NO

Explanation: These data can’t get to the individual business level. We could potentially link education in metropolitan areas with employment in sectors, and look at different factors that cause higher wages, but individuals can’t be tracked using these data.