1 - Intro to GIS for the 1 - Intro to GIS for the Social SciencesSocial Sciences

RESM 493r

Goal Apply GIS techniques to social science and

business research Explore spatial and quantitative analysis

methods Examine problems in business and marketing,

community planning and development, health care, crime analysis, environmental justice, recreation, and other applications

Explore the significance of spatial thinking in social science research and analysis.

Learning objectives Explain how place and space are important

and can be analyzed with GIS in various social science fields.

Find and download appropriate census data for use with political boundaries.

Perform business and marketing space based analyses.

Analyze the patterns of features and use models to make predictions about future conditions.

Today

Into to GIS for social sciences Hazards of place model

GIS use in the social sciences

An analytical tool for social sciences Not new, but only recently has it gained

wider recognition Due to availability and easy to use

software Applied in various social science

disciplines Is a continuously evolving technology

Examples

Mapping crime statistics Social inequality Environmental justice

Understanding the “G” in GIS Knowing exact location is an

important part of the GIS process Information about people and places

is location based. Street address, zip or area code, census

block, x,y coordinates, latitude and longitude, etc

scientific basis for mapping – scale (level of spatial detail - privacy and ethical issues), coordinates, control datums.

Understanding the “G” in GIS

Not all social science research use spatial analysis focus on social, economic, cultural and

survey data without spatial questions E.g. Do educated or wealthier pregnant

women receive higher quality prenatal care? Alternatively Where are the prenatal clinics located

relative to available public transportation, child care etc ? → causative relationships.

Understanding the “G” in GIS Not all data is geographic – e.g. data on

perceptions, desires, social ties, ideas or interactions. Use of cartograms - to represent social

relationships Data variability in time and space

Most data are static – snapshot in time. Difficult to map changes or trends in data

Many things are dynamic Choice of variables to be used. E.g. Mapping

individuals over time - home address or place of employment; or where the person is likely to be at a particular time of the day or week.

Understanding the “G” in GIS Computers allow us to transform static data

into dynamic data – Animation Difficult and expensive to collect and update

temporal scale (real time) data Fortunately, only a few social science

applications use this kind of data Representation issues

Privacy and ethical issues Lumping (grouping) or degrading to mask

individual data points

Understanding the “I” in GIS

Information relates to software database Databases are specialized software programs

designed for storage, organization and retrieval of information.

Most GIS can interact with any database system May involve some transformation and translations Most data are now available in GIS ready formats e.g

USCensus, local and state agencies, private companies and universities

Primary data – surveys, interviews, and observations locational information and coding and formatting

Extending the “I” in GIS

Multimedia capabilities of computers Allows the incorporation of video, audio,

photos and text Oral history, narratives and interviews,

Data is stored in a raw form Can be used for further and different

analysis Dynamically linked to a map location

Understanding the “S” in GIS

System component Hardware, software and people

GIS setup involves costs and training Issues of data structure, format and

compatibility – Interoperability High costs and training may warrant

subcontracting to GIS specialists.

Understanding the “S” in GIS

GIS data model is based on discrete data categories of points, lines and polygons that are in space Assumes all data can be linked to a specific discrete

location Assumes that lines can be drawn to delineate

boundaries between data categories Many data sets are not clearly defined

E.g degraded Efforts to develop fuzzy GIS systems – less

defined locations and boundaries

Qualitative Research MethodsQualitative Research Methods

Integrating qualitative research and GIS

Qualitative research forms: Sociospatial grounded theory Participant observation Ethnography Oral histories

Qualitative Research MethodsQualitative Research Methods Inductive Approach

Grounded Theory and GIS

Sociospatial Grounded Theory Determine topic of interest Determine geographic location of interest Collect data (qualitative, spatially linked social data) Geocode the data Ground truth the data Analyze the data, look for spatial and social patterns General theory (spatial and social)

Integrating GIS & Field ResearchIntegrating GIS & Field Research

GIS software in the field Entering data in the field.

Consider climate conditions, access to power or recharge the computer and storage space

Base maps of study area Hard copy maps Mark some reference points

Ground truth of map data Verification and ground truthing

Use of aerial photos Elicit help from local people

Cultural perceptions of technology How technology is viewed by people in the study area e.g. Amish

community Alternative methods

Access to Results Who will read the report Public access

Local Sources of DataLocal Sources of Data

Oral History Interviews GIS and oral history

Participant Observation Researcher actively participates in the

issue and topic under study Researcher record their experiences

(social, environmental and personal sentiments)

News as Data SourceNews as Data Source Background data or actual data

Newspapers, magazine, TV and online formats

Content Analysis Approach Analyze events in time, location, time of

occurrence etc Identify patterns in news stories Information can be used for decision making

Ethnography and GISEthnography and GIS Detailed description of a problem or issue

“Telling people stories the way the people want the stories told” (Earl Babbie, 2003)

Recorded conversations

GIS integrates contextualized or environmentally situate the stories over time

Key elements/variables from stories can be used for analysis

Public Particiaption and GISPublic Particiaption and GIS

Local people’s ideas, thoughts and actions are solicited to be part of the planning process. Community meetings, stage hearings to

solicit community input, focus groups, surveys, key informant interviews, needs assessments etc

Disadvantage – very few people (general public) understand GIS

PPGIS allows people to see the data and its physical, environmental or social context now or in future

Use of GIS as means of idea portrayal can give planners of community desires

Sociospatial ResearchSociospatial Research

Enhances analysis by providing additional insights and information not previously considered understand social context and characterstics

Outline Explore GIS as a tool for the integration and

analysis of social science data Role of GIS in research Applications

GIS in the social science

Does not have a long history in the social science

Its value is beginning to be recognized

Why is GIS a good tool for the social scientist?

Allows for the integration and comparison of contextual data from social as well as environmental or physical standpoint

Social science researcher Almost all of their data have an

associcated geographic point of location

Researchers need to identify where the differences, similarities, correlations, and interactions exist

GIS can accommodate both qualitative and quantitative variables into a study

Inductive vs deductive approaches to research

GIS can be helpful to both Inductive – hypotheses emerge from

the data, no preconceived notions Deductive – more traditional approach

of lit review, generate framework, create hypoth, test the hypoth by collecting data

Hazards of place model

Example: Example: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

Example:Example: Hazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability Hazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

Step 1: Determining Biophysical Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

Step 1: Determining Biophysical Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityStep 1: Determining Biophysical Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityStep 1: Determining Biophysical Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

Step 2: Defining Social Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

Step 2: Defining Social Vulnerability

ExampleExample:: Hazards-of-Place Model of VulnerabilityHazards-of-Place Model of Vulnerability

Step 3: The Vulnerability of Places

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Combining Tables(application of Census data or other demographic information with spatial layers)

Tables Descriptive information about features

Each feature class has an associated table

One row for each geographic feature

Right-click

Understanding table anatomy Basic table properties

Records/rows and fields/columns Column types can store numbers, text, dates Unique column names

Columns (fields)

Rows(records)

Attributevalues

Table manipulation Open table in ArcMap or preview in ArcCatalog

Sort ascending or descending Freeze/Unfreeze columns Statistics

In ArcMap

Select records

Modify table values

Associating tables Can store attributes in feature table or separate table Associate tables with common column key values

Must be same data field types Must know table relationships (cardinality)

Additional attribute tableFeature attribute table

Example: Associating county attribute table with separate table of poverty estimates by county for WV

Table relationships How many A objects are related to B objects? Types of cardinality

One-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-one, and many-to-many

Must know cardinality before connecting tables

or

One parcel has one owner

One parcel has one owner

One parcel has many owners

One parcel has many owners

Many parcels have one owner

Many parcels have one owner

Many parcels have many owners

Many parcels have many owners

Joins and relates Two methods to associate tables in ArcMap based on a

common field Join appends the attributes

from one onto the other Label or symbolize features

using joined attributes Relate defines a relationship

between two tables

Connecting tables with joins Appends the attributes of two tables Assumes one-to-one or many-to-one cardinality

County Attributes (before Join) WV_Poverty98

County Attributes with joined poverty data (virtual table after Join)

One-to-one

c c

Connecting tables with relates Define relationship between two tables

Tables remain independent

Additional cardinality choices One-to-many Discovers any related rows

2) Open related table1) Make selection

Example: Relate WV county attributes to table of coal production statistics for 1986 - 1998