Why are some items in bold on ACS Profiles?

[johnson]

I have been using your ACS Profile reports ( at http[url]://mcdc1.missouri.edu/acsprofiles/acsprofilemenu.html[/url]). I notice that there are different fonts used for different cells in the tables. Some are in bold, while others are not and some of the cells are almost unreadable because the font is so light. What is this about?

[blodgettj]

Basically we use a 3-tiered font scheme to indicate the degree of statistical reliability for the estimates in the reports. You can follow the link to Usage Notes at the top of the profile page (http://mcdc.missouri.edu/websas/acsprofile.usage_notes.shtml) and then look for the section headed Showing Statistical Reliability of Numbers (MOEs), where it explains in detail the criteria we use for assigning the fonts. This scheme can be used in conjunction with your ability to actually view the MOE/confidence interval values by making sure the browser window has focus and then letting the mouse hover over an estimate.