Q: How do I navigate the profile page?
A: Click here to access a guide to the links associated with the neighborhood profile page.
Q: How do I navigate the web map page?
A: Click here to access a guide to the web map tools and links.
Q: Why isn't my neighborhood included in the sytem?
A: Some Neighborhood and Planning Distriscts were below the the estimated population and dwelling count threshold needed to achieve reliable estimates and trend information. These geographies are excluded from the data served by the system. Also, some neighborhoods were excluded because their geographic scope partially overlapped with another neighborhood in the system. In these instances usually the smaller geography was excluded.
Q: How reliable are the Indicator data?
A: In most cases the figures provided for each indicator are estimates subject to some form of estimation error. Problems with some of the estimates' reliability tend to be greater where there is new development. In each case, the estimates shown represent the project staff’s best effort to assign an accurate value. Information on how each item was calculated and the limitations of the source is provided in the definitions link.
Q: How does one compare indicators across neighborhoods that differ in size?
A: For comparative purposes many of the Indicators have been "normalized" as rates or percentages; however some indicators, e.g., community pride violations, do not easily lend themselves to normalization. In cases where the appropriate base from which to calculate a rate is not connoted by the count, the reports provide only counts.
Q: Which items are suppressed and why?
A: Data subject to suppression are those sourced from Madison Metro School District, Public Health of Madison / Dane County, and Dane County Human Services. Data are suppressed for individual geographies if they fail to meet the threshold counts established to protect confidentiality. Any counts of five or fewer or percentages that rely on counts of five or fewer have been suppressed from the neighborhoods data. Items have been suppressed from the neighborhood geographies in order to avoid disclosing small counts that might be deduced from geographic comparison with overlapping neighborhood geographies.
Q: Why aren’t all the indicators available mapping dropdown selection lists?
A: Several of the profile items are removed from the dropdown list for neighborhood associations in each case due to data suppression related to confidentiality. See note above.
Q: Why are the Neighborhood Association and Planning District boundaries used in the Indicators project sometimes inconsistent with those maintained by the City for those areas?
A: Some Neighborhood and Planning boundaries extend outside the City of Madison, into areas for which we have no reliable data source. The original boundaries were clipped in order to include only those areas that were within Madison City limits.
Q: Why aren’t all the items in the pdf profiles shown in the web profiles?
A: To streamline site navigability the web profile provides lists either a count or a rate, but not both.
