The first wave of data from Census 2000 has washed ashore, providing some with an exhilarating ride surfing the leading edge of computer-assisted reporting It may have been more terrifying than thrilling for others, however.
Whichever situation you identify with, upcoming data releases will be much, much more challenging.
The data dictionary for PL94-171's four tables of race and race and Latino/Hispanic ethnicity was 10 pages long. For Summary File 1 coming this summer, the preliminary description runs 110 pages, and the final detailed listing will be many times that length.
PL94-171 had a total of 288 population count variables, plus the 80 geography variables.
Summary File 1 will have the same 80 geography variables plus 8,132 population and housing count variables. That includes 3,078 variables down to the block level plus another