Data Dictionary: Census 1980 on 2010 Geographies
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Data Source:U.S. Census Bureau & Social Explorer
Table: T10. Age (detailed version) [27]
Universe: Persons
Table Details
T10. Age (detailed version)
Universe: Persons
VariableLabel
T010_001
T010_002
T010_003
T010_004
T010_005
T010_006
T010_007
T010_008
T010_009
T010_010
T010_011
T010_012
T010_013
T010_014
T010_015
T010_016
T010_017
T010_018
T010_019
T010_020
T010_021
T010_022
T010_023
T010_024
T010_025
T010_026
T010_027
Relevant Documentation:
Excerpt from: Social Explorer, U.S. Census Bureau; Census of Population and Housing, 1980 [United States]: Summary Tape File 1a [Computer file]. ICPSR version. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census [producer], 1982. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002.
 
Age
Age at last birthday, i.e., number of completed years from birth to April 1, 1980, based on replies to a question on month and year of birth. This item was asked on a complete-count basis.

Because of the central importance of the data on age, the question contains redundancies. The age entry on the basic tape record is derived from the FOSDIC entries of quarter and year of birth. For those persons who do not provide this information but who do provide "age at last birthday," the census enumerator or clerk uses an equivalency table to mark the appropriate FOSDIC circles. The item "age at last birthday" is used only secondarily because of the tendency of some people, in reporting their ages, to round off to "0" or "5" (and to report even rather than odd numbers). The write-in entries of month and year of birth are requested because some people have difficulty with (and therefore skip) the FOSDIC marking system in this question.

Age is tabulated by single years of age and by many different groupings such as 5-year age groups. Basic records identify single years (and quarter years on sample basic records) to 112.

Median age
Calculated as the value which divides the age distribution into two equal parts, one-half the cases falling below this value, one-half above. Median age is computed from the age intervals or groupings shown in the particular tabulation, and thus a median based on a less detailed distribution may differ slightly from a corresponding median for the same population based on a more detailed distribution. If the median falls in the terminal category, e.g., 75 years and over, the median is shown as the initial age of the category with a plus sign, e.g., 75+.

Limitations
In previous censuses, undercoverage of the population has been associated with age. Young adults, especially Black males, were missed at a higher rate than other segments of the population.

Historical comparability
Age data have been collected in each census since 1790. Counts in 1970 and 1980 for persons 100 years old and over were substantially overstated.

See also: "Age of Householder."

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