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Econometrica Supports Upcoming 2020 Census Data Products

by | Oct 6, 2021 | Econometrica Blog

Some data users, eager for more information, have asked why it is taking so long to produce data from the 2020 census.

The U.S. Census Bureau aims to take the time to produce the high-quality statistics the public expects. The pandemic delayed operations, and the Census Bureau is in the midst of implementing new confidentiality protections.

As plans are updated and finalized, Census will continue to keep the public informed through the About 2020 Census Data Products page.

Upcoming data products will include the first results on topics not covered in the apportionment or redistricting data such as sex, relationship, and household type. There will also be more details on age, race, and vacancy status that were not part of the redistricting release.

Users will be able to review more nuanced data about the Nation’s communities, such as:

    • Populations by age, sex, and race.
    • Households by household type, size, and race.

The Census Bureau discusses current plans for the data products and how you can provide feedback here: https://bit.ly/3leYs5W

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Study Finds Landlords Are More Hesitant to Participate in ERA Programs

by | Sep 28, 2021 | Econometrica Blog

Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) programs face a lack of participation by landlords and tenants, according to a new study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, The Housing Initiative at Penn, and NYU Furman Center, with greater refusal and unresponsiveness from landlords than from tenants.

The team conducted the survey of 247 ERA program administrators between September 9 and September 15. Findings from the survey included:

  • Tenant rarely refused to participate in ERA programs. Most (49 percent) ERA programs have never experienced tenants refusing to participate in ERA programs and 90 percent of programs never, very rarely, or rarely experience tenants refusing to participate
  • Program administrators indicated they experience greater refusal and unresponsiveness from landlords than from tenants.
  • Reasons program administrators give for tenants not participating include challenges with tenant engagement and the application process.
  • Reasons program administrators give for landlords refusing or not responding include landlords not wanting to share their W-9s and wanting to retain the ability to evict tenants for other reasons.

More information can be found here and here.

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Census Releases Redistricting Data in Additional Format

by | Sep 17, 2021 | Econometrica Blog

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its 2020 census redistricting data in an easier-to-use format. Data users will be able to access data with demographic information for cities and towns without downloading the FTP files.

Data.census.gov allows users to search geographies down to the block level and access data through tables, maps, and downloads.

For more information, visit https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/2020-census-redistricting-data-easier-to-use-format.html

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Census Prepares to Release 2020 Redistricting Data

by | Aug 12, 2021 | Econometrica Blog

The U.S. Census Bureau will release local-level data from the 2020 census today during a press conference at 1 p.m. ET. The data, which States will use to draw congressional and legislative districts, will cover population change, race, ethnicity, the age 18 and over population, and housing occupancy status.

Redistricting, or the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries based on where their populations have increased or decreased. occurs following the decennial census. These data from the 2020 census illuminate the changes to the local and demographic makeup of states and localities over the last decade.

Information about the press conference can be found here:

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Econometrica Supports HUD Toolkit Responding to Education Challenges From COVID-19

by | Aug 2, 2021 | Econometrica Blog

COVID-19 has impacted the nation in many ways, including children’s education. As schools get set to reopen this fall, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a toolkit aimed at strengthening families and students living in HUD-assisted housing during the pandemic.

From August 2020 to March 2021, Econometrica supported HUD in a series of COVID-19 education peer exchanges. A key outcome from this series is Supporting Our Kids’ Education: Tools to Strengthen Resident Families & Students During COVID-19 & Beyond, a toolkit for public housing agencies and their community partners that responds to the educational challenges experienced by families and children during the pandemic.

The toolkit was developed by HUD’s Office of Choice Neighborhoods in partnership with grantees and expert consultants from Econometrica to provide case studies, ready-to-use family flyers, and a wealth of evidence-based resource links. Topics include:

  • Addressing learning loss.
  • Strengthening families’ ability to support their children’s learning.
  • Developing high-quality out-of-school time programming and tutoring.
  • Establishing learning hubs.

The toolkit highlights open source, research-based tools and resources as well as promising practice case studies that equip housing authorities and their partners to provide targeted educational services and strengthen the ability of families to support their children’s learning.

HUD focused on education because “COVID-19 has exacerbated the stark disparities between low-income housing residents and their higher-income peers.”

“With remote and hybrid learning, children living in public housing and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted housing often face a variety of hurdles, from increased food insecurity and spotty internet service to challenges with student engagement and disruptions in specialized education supports.”

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“With remote and hybrid learning, children living in public housing and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-assisted housing often face a variety of hurdles, from increased food insecurity and spotty internet service to challenges with student engagement and disruptions in specialized education supports.”

Audiograms: A New Solution to Your Video Needs

by | Jul 26, 2021 | Econometrica Blog

Audiogram Graphic Ephraim RossEconometrica supports our clients by helping them select the best learning solution to convey their content. We work hard to stay at the cutting edge of content delivery, learning and employing new technologies to meet the needs of our clients and audiences. We are currently employing a new training delivery modality called Audiograms for one of our newest projects.This article outlines why Audiograms are useful to our clients and audiences and how you can use them in the future.

Why We Discovered Audiograms

While designing a training for international public health practitioners, we identified that telling authentic field-based stories would be most impactful to our international audience. We also discovered that the international subject matter experts our client wanted to showcase via video did not have the internet bandwidth to record a high-quality video. In the past, our solution would have included going onsite to record videos. Given the pandemic and the geographic dispersion of the experts, though, that solution was not feasible.

Instead, we explored products and communication strategies that would allow our subject matter experts to share their story in a compelling way within the limitations of their technology. And we determined that Audiograms were the best solution for our client.

What is an Audiogram?
Audiograms are audio files that are combined with simple visual content and live captions.

Check out this audiogram below to understand more about the new modality.

How to Use Audiograms in Your Own Work 

Audiograms are ideal for short-form, standalone content, such as:

  • Audio presentations
  • Interviews
  • Conversations
  • Panels

Audiograms are also great item to embed within a longer training to break up and diversify the types of content. They are easy to share directly through social media—a medium that many organizations have found to be the simplest way to communicate with their audience.

Our clients have told us that Audiograms have a uniquely modern look and feel to them, and they are an excellent solution for experts who are trusted sources of information but do not wish to appear on camera or are remote. Other advantages of using Audiograms include:

Production advantages:

  • Quick and easy to produce high-quality content.
  • Cost-effective production mechanism.
  • Seamless edits and transitions (which is not possible when using a video of a presenter talking).
  • Can include additional media (images, animations).
  • Easy to create custom-branded templates for your project or brand.

Audience advantages:

  • Accessible content with live transcripts/captions.
  • Appropriate media to use for a low-bandwidth audience.
  • Can easily be shared on social media (can post video directly to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

Let us know if you are interested in learning more!


Stuck on a training challenge? Give us a call! Creative learning solutions (whether big or small) are our specialty.

Sarah Gillam, M.Ed.
Senior Instructional Designer
SGillam@EconometricaInc.com

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