Kansas State Data Users Group

Kansas State Data Users Group
Name	Kansas State Data Users Group
Type	Nonprofit organization
Founded	1980s
Headquarters	Topeka, Kansas
Region served	Kansas
Membership	Researchers, analysts, librarians

Kansas State Data Users Group is a state-based consortium of practitioners, researchers, and institutional stakeholders that focuses on the acquisition, analysis, dissemination, and preservation of statistical, demographic, and geospatial data for Kansas. The organization convenes professionals from academic institutions, state agencies, public libraries, and private firms to improve access to data produced by federal agencies and by state and local entities. It functions as a forum for training, advocacy, and coordination among users of population, labor, health, education, and agricultural datasets.

Overview

The group brings together representatives from Kansas State University, University of Kansas, Wichita State University, Fort Hays State University, and regional community colleges with staff from the United States Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Agriculture, National Center for Education Statistics, and state agencies in Kansas. Regular participants include analysts from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department for Children and Families, Kansas Department of Transportation, and municipal planning offices in Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City, Kansas. The group's activities intersect with users from organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Regional Data Center, Midwest Regional Data Center, Economic Research Service, and nonprofit research centers including the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.

History and Development

Origins trace to practitioner networks formed during census preparation cycles in the 1980s and 1990s that connected local planners, university demographers, and state statisticians responding to releases from the 1980 United States Census, 1990 United States Census, and later the 2000 United States Census. Key milestones include collaborative responses to methodology changes announced by the United States Census Bureau following the 1990 Census mail response issues and adaptations to datasets from the American Community Survey and the Decennial Census. Technological changes such as the rise of geographic information systems exemplified by software from companies like Esri and open-source projects like QGIS influenced training agendas. The group has evolved alongside federal statistical modernization efforts such as initiatives led by the Office of Management and Budget and collaborations with the National Science Foundation on data infrastructure.

Membership and Organization

Membership comprises librarians, demographers, economists, epidemiologists, geographers, and policy analysts affiliated with universities, state agencies, local governments, and private sector research shops. Institutional members have included staff from Kansas Health Institute, Kansas Policy Institute, county governments such as Sedgwick County, Johnson County, Kansas, and municipal planning commissions. Governance typically features an elected steering committee with liaisons to the Census Bureau Regional Office and academic data centers like the Institute for Policy & Social Research and the Center for Research Libraries. Funding and operational support have been obtained through institutional dues, grants from foundations like the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and cooperative agreements with federal agencies.

Activities and Events

The group organizes annual conferences timed with major federal data releases, hands-on workshops on tools produced by Microsoft and SAS Institute, and webinars on topics tied to releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Events have featured training on American Community Survey microdata, workshops on LEHD employment data, and sessions on agricultural datasets from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Conference themes have intersected with programming from professional associations such as the Population Association of America, the Association of Public Data Users, and the American Statistical Association. Technical sessions often cover geocoding, small-area estimation methods developed in partnership with researchers affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University and University of Chicago statistics departments.

Data Resources and Publications

The group compiles inventories of state and federal datasets relevant to Kansas users, aggregating metadata for resources from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, and the Environmental Protection Agency. It publishes newsletters and technical guides that reference tools and standards from entities like the Federal Geographic Data Committee and the National Historical Geographic Information System. Research briefs authored by members synthesize findings using sources such as the Current Population Survey, Consumer Expenditure Survey, and state administrative records, and have been cited by local think tanks and university research centers.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Strategic partners include the Kansas Data Access and Support Center, regional offices of the United States Census Bureau, academic data archives such as the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, and nonprofit organizations including the Kansas Health Institute and the Kauffman Foundation. The group has coordinated workshops with the National Governors Association and participated in cross-state initiatives involving the Midwest Higher Education Compact and federal projects supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Impact and Influence on Policy and Research

Outputs from the group have informed state and local planning processes, analyses used by legislators in the Kansas State Legislature, and program evaluations conducted by agencies like the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Its training programs have improved capacity to use federally produced series such as the American Community Survey and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages in academic research, municipal planning, public health surveillance, and agricultural policy analysis. Collaborative publications and technical assistance have been cited in reports by the Kansas Health Institute, regional planning commissions, and university policy centers, shaping discussions around demographic change, labor markets, and rural development.

Category:Organizations based in Kansas