Question

Current population survey. The employment status (employed or unemployed) of each individual in the U.S. workforce is a set of data that is of interest to economists, businesspeople, and sociologists. To obtain information about the employment status of the workforce, the U.S. Bureau of the Census conducts what is known as the Current Population Survey. Each month interviewers visit about 50,000 of the 117 million households in the United States and question the occupants over 14 years of age about their employment status. Their responses enable the Bureau of the Census to estimate the percentage of people in the labor force who are unemployed (the unemployment rate).

a. Define the population of interest to the Census Bureau.

b. What variable is being measured? Is it quantitative or qualitative?

c. Is the problem of interest to the Census Bureau descriptive or inferential?

d. In order to monitor the rate of unemployment, it is essential to have a definition of unemployed. Different economists and even different countries define it in various ways. Develop your own definition of an "unemployed person." Your definition should answer such questions as: Are students on summer vacation unemployed? Are college professors who do not teach summer school unemployed? At what age are people considered to be eligible for the workforce? Are people who are out of work but not actively seeking a job unemployed?

Short answer

a. All the individuals that are above the age of 14 years.

b. The employment status; this variable is qualitative.

c. Descriptive statistics

d. An unemployed person is above 14 years of age and has keenly searched for employment for more than six months but couldn't find it.

Step-by-step solution

Identifying the population

The population of interest to the Census Bureau isthe set of individuals above 14 years of age, and their status of employability is recorded.

Determining the variable of interest

The variable here is theemployment status, and it can be categorized into 2 categories employed and unemployed. Therefore this is aqualitative variable.

Defining the study to be descriptive

Thestudy is descriptivebecause the study is used to explain the data; this study is used in explaining the employment status and hence will be used to compute the unemployment rate. Moreover, no generalization is made; hence it cannot be an inferential study.

Providing the definition

Individuals are in the category of unemployed when they are above the age of 14 years are unable to seek the desired employment opportunities for a term that is higher than 6 months. They have to be actively seeking the work.