The project would create a comprehensive collection of statistical data and data sets on child well being and poverty. This will provide easy access to critical information needed for basic and policy research, education, and program planning, implementation, and evaluation. The collection would include an innovative statistical abstract modeled after the annual Statistical Abstract of the United States. It would provide in one place comprehensive national and state-level data on child well being and poverty. These data would be distributed in three formats: 1) on the Internet where users could easily locate and download information, 2) in CD-ROM form with search and retrieval software, and 3) in book form similar to the Statistical Abstract. The data set archive would include descriptive and comparative data on the structure of child well being and poverty; factors that contribute to poverty and child well-being; the consequences of child poverty; evaluations of education, welfare, and other programs related to child well being and poverty. All variables in these data sets would be categorized by topic and type similar to other data Sociometrics' archives and be made publicly available with SPSS and SAS program statements and search and retrieval and data extract software.
The potential market for statistical information and data on child welfare and poverty is large and diverse. It ranges from research scientists interested primarily in the data sets themselves for secondary analysis, to members of the general public who are concerned with issues of child well being due to their own experiences as parents or children, or out of needs they have identified in their communities. We have identified several major market segments for this information--broadly, researchers, teachers/students, policy markers, practitioners, information brokers, and information consumers--and the potential level of interest of each segment in each of the four products to be developed.
