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Mission
The Center for Family and Demographic Research (CFDR) serves as an Ohio State Data Center Affiliate. One core component of
our mission is to serve the community at Bowling Green State University as well as the broader community of Northwest Ohio.
Three overarching goals of the CFDR data center are to:
- store and disseminate Census data and publications,
- assist and train people in the usage of demographic data and methods, and
- conduct research in family and social demography.
The CFDR is part of a larger state-wide system of data center affiliates. The Ohio State Data Center, located in the Center for Strategic Research of the Ohio Department of Development, acts in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau as the primary source of Census data, Census publications, and population estimates and projections for the state of Ohio.
Several other institutions located throughout Ohio serve as state data center affiliates, each of which has its own area of
specialization. The CFDR's specialization is research in family and social demography.
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Census Data and Publications
The CFDR serves as a depository of U.S. Census data and publications. Most Census data can be obtained online from the U.S. Census Bureau and Ohio State Data Center websites. See Links for a list of other relevant sites [link to Links].
The CFDR library also houses Census data and publications on paper and CD-ROM. These publications are available to the public
and may be copied at reproduction costs.
Finally, the CFDR data archive includes machine-readable data from the U.S. Censuses and selected demographic and social surveys. These data are publicly
available on CD-ROM.
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Assistance and Training
Demographics are rapidly becoming a critical component of business and government problem solving and decision-making. However,
for those without specialized training, the task of making sense of the vast amount of demographic data that are currently
available can be daunting.
The CFDR staff can help potential users select, access, and interpret Census data. This can simply mean pointing clients to
relevant data or making users aware of research that has already been conducted. In other instances, CFDR staff can help clients
refine their analyses and present results in more informative and interesting ways. For example, we can help users create
thematic maps either on-line or with mapping software (GIS) in the CFDR computer lab.
More formal training also takes place at the CFDR. The CFDR is one of the few programs in the country that offers an undergraduate
minor in demography and a master's degree in applied demography.
More about our degree programs
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Research
The CFDR currently includes nine faculty and four emeritus faculty members who conduct research in family and demography.
It is the largest group of demographers in the state and the only center in the Ohio State university system that is dedicated
to teaching, research, and service in demography. Research results are made available to the public through the CFDR working
paper series. Some examples of research currently being conducted are:
- The effects of welfare reform on immigrant families
- The socioeconomic and cultural contexts of non-marital relationships, including cohabitation, unmarried childbearing, divorce
and nonresident parenting
- The implications of recent family change for children
- The influence of adolescent peers and boy/girlfriends on decisions about sex, contraception, and pregnancy.
More about CFDR research activities
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Contact
Kelly Balistreri, State Data Center Coordinator
Center for Family & Demographic Research
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403
419-372-7166
kellyba@bgnet.bgsu.edu
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Our Affiliates
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