Disclaimer

Caveats about accuracy
Forsyth Futures has been very careful in collecting, analyzing, and presenting data from a variety of sources. Although Forsyth Futures has judged its data sources to be reliable, it was not possible to authenticate all data. If careful users of the website discover data errors or typographical errors, Forsyth Futures welcomes this feedback and will incorporate corrections into its periodic data updates.

Geography

Because the indicators are focused on Forsyth County, North Carolina, the primary geography reported is Forsyth County. To provide a basis for comparisons, some indicators include data from other geographies such as the 8 municipalities in Forsyth County, the Winston-Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area, state of North Carolina, select North Carolina counties and the United States.

Age of the data

Users will notice differences across indicators in the age of the data. There are many reasons for this. Because of the time needed to collect, analyze, and disseminate data, “new” annual data sets may be from one to two years old. The indicators also use data from sources where new data is not available annually, and updates may be possible only every three, five, or even ten years. For data that is not publicly available from a website or report, Forsyth Futures is dependent on staff of other organizations for updates; these are noted as personal communications. Other factors also limit the ability to update the indicators. For example, data that were previously available may have been discontinued or cannot be used due to changes in definitions or reporting mechanisms. Some data cannot be updated because they include data from one-time research reports. Although all of the original indicator categories were included in the initial website development, over time, indicators that cannot be updated may be removed. 



Data labels and terminology

Forsyth Futures chose to retain the terminology used by the original source when presenting the indicator data. This is most evident in data labels for race and geography. For example, some data sources use the term “black,” while others use “African-American.” Definitions and explanations of the data labels are provided on the data pages.



Data analysis

The key findings tab for each of the indicators summarizes key points drawn from the data tables and graphs. In some cases, Forsyth Futures uses the term “significant” in the analysis. The use of this term does not imply statistical significance. Rather, it indicates that, in the opinion of Forsyth Futures, change over time or differences between demographic groups or geographic locations are great enough to be noteworthy.



Feedback and Suggestions
Forsyth Futures welcomes the feedback of users on how we can improve the site and make it more useful. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .