Regionalizing the U.S. and Canada

Regions are mental constructs

The problem with borders is that variables are not usually co-terminus

20. the second vowel in "pajamas"      a. [  ] as in "jam" (45.92%)     b. [  ] as in "father" (51.86%)     c. other (2.23%)     (11277 respondents)

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect

106. What do you call the act of covering a house or area in front of a house with toilet paper?     a. tp'ing (57.03%)     b. rolling (6.05%)     c. toilet papering (21.51%)     d. wrapping (2.29%)     e. papering (3.67%)     f. bog rolling (0.04%)     g. I have no word for this (8.28%)     h. other (1.13%)     (8260 respondents)

2004 Target States

WPI 2004 (Dolan and Smith)

2004 WinnerBushKerry

Regions and Scale

• The scale of data gathering and display has a great impact on regions and how we think about places

• The size of your net determines the size of the fish you will catch

Obama vs. McCain by state

Obama vs.. McCain by state and population of state cartogram

Obama vs. Mc Cain by Electoral votes cartogram

Votes by county

County by population

Proportional vote by county

County by population proportional vote cartogram