This project will create Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) for the Colombian censuses of 1964, 1973, 1985, 1993 and 2000. The project is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE), the Colombian census authority. Microdata from the Colombian censuses has never been made publicly available, but the original data used to create the aggregate tabulations for these census years do survive in machine-readable form. DANE has agreed to provide the machine-readable raw data files for each census year. Thus, it is feasible to create usable PUMS files and associated documentation for Colombia at modest cost. The design of the Colombian database will be modeled on the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) created at the University of Minnesota, and to the extent feasible the coding schemes will be made compatible with the existing U.S. census microdata. A key component of the project is preparation of an integrated set of documentation for the entire data series, including a general user's guide, procedural histories, technical information and error estimation. The Colombian census microdata samples, once integrated into a single database with uniform codes and documentation and released into the public domain, will constitute the richest source of quantitative information on long-term change for any Latin American population. The integrated Colombian PUMS will be distributed over the Internet using technology developed at the University of Minnesota for United States census samples.
