- DUALabs
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DUALabs (National Data Use and Access Laboratories) was the name of an American company that created and disseminated microdata and aggregate data files for the 1960 and 1970 censuses. The DUALabs 1960 census microdata file was noteworthy because it was designed to compatible with data from the 1970 census, allowing easy analysis of economic and demographic change between 1960 and 1970. The compatible DUALabs microdata inspired the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series which provides compatible census microdata for the period since 1850.[1]
DUALabs used a proprietary compression algorithm to compress the 1960 and 1970 census data under NSF grant 7249358 to the Center for Research Libraries. DUALabs also received funding for the project from the Ford Foundation and NICHD (Contract 72-2707).[1][2] This algorithm made wide dissemination of massive census files feasible for the first time. After DUALabs declared bankruptcy in the early 1980s, however, some data became inaccessible because the decompression software was not generally available to researchers.[3] All DUALabs census data are now recovered, however, and are available through the National Historical Geographic Information System and the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
The company was headed by former Census Bureau employee Jack Beresford (1931–1996), who had worked on the compilation of the 1960 census, and the company headquarters was in Rosslyn, Virginia.
Footnotes
References
Ginda, Thomas. Old Census, New Twist; Four Area Districts , Mar 29, 1970. pg. E1
Jacobs, Sanford. "Data Analyst Sues to Save Program Priced at $8,000, Vs. U.S.'s $110 Tag", Dec 18, 1981. p. 25.
Ruggles, Steven, The Minnesota Population Center Data Integration Projects: Challenges of Harmonizing Census Microdata Across Time and Place 2005 Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, Government Statistics Section, Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association, pp. 1405–1415
Categories:- Defunct companies based in Virginia
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