1. Navigate to the website for the Minnesota Population Center (MPC): https://www.pop.umn.edu/
1A. What exactly is the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) in the business of doing? That is, what sorts of ideas (motivations, topics, questions, etc.) guide their work as a research center?
1B. Based on your answer to #1 above, is there any overlap between the work of the MPC and topic/question that you are potentially interested in. If so, discuss the nature of this overlap. If not, discuss why and what is unique about your topic/question such that it falls outside of the purview of the MPC.
1C. Based on your answers to #1 and #2 above, identify and discuss two features (research services, data products, etc.) of the MPC that are potentially relevant to you as you think about your research proposal. Be specific!
1D. Navigate to the website for the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS): https://usa.ipums.org/usa/.
Create a data extract, by which I mean walk through a series of steps (below) to request (electronically) data from the IPUMS database. Follow these steps for purpose this assignment:
• Click on "Browse and Select Data"
• Select the data set that you would like to use For this assignment, click on "Select Samples" Uncheck the box that says "Default sample from each year" Click on "USA Full Count" Check only the box for "1880," Click "Submit sample selections."
• Under "Select Variables," hover your mouse over the word; 'Person," and then select "Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity," Click the yellow plus sign to the left of the word, "RACE" Then click on "VIEW CART" on the top right of your screen.
• Click on "Create data extract."
• Click on the words "show" (there are two such instances) at the top of your screen° This will expand the details under "Samples _t'" and "Variables:,." Take a screen shot and paste this screen shot into Assignment1 as your answer to Question 1D.
• As an aside (i.e., not required for this assignment), if you do not have an IPUMS account already, feel free to register for an account following the steps on the website. Once you are registered, you will be able to complete the process of submitting your extract, which, eventually, will give you access to the data that you requested so that you can look at and analyze it.
1E. As you may have realized by now, there are some important limitations to the sorts of data that the MPC provides, Identify and discuss these limitations with respect to what types of research topics and questions can and cannot be studied using MPC data.