Measuring the Effectiveness of Static Maps to Communicate Changes over Time

Both in digital and print media, it is common to use static maps to show the evolution of values in various regions over time. The ability to communicate local or global trends, while reducing the cognitive load on readers, is of vital importance for an audience that is not always well versed in map interpretation. This study aims to measure the efficiency of four static maps (choropleth, tile grid map and their banded versions) to test their usefulness in presenting changes over time from a user experience perspective. We first evaluate the effectiveness of these map types by quantitative performance analysis (time and success rates). In a second phase, we gather qualitative data to detect which type of map favors decision-making. On a quantitative level, our results show that certain types of maps work better to show global trends, while other types are more useful when analyzing regional trends or detecting the regions that fit a specific pattern. On a qualitative level, those representations which are already familiar to the user are often better valued despite having lower measured success rate

Choriented Maps: Visualizing SDG Data on Mobile Devices

Choropleth maps and graduated symbol maps are often used to visualize quantitative geographic data. However, as the number of classes grows, distinguishing between adjacent classes increasingly becomes challenging. To mitigate this issue, this work introduces two new visualization types: choriented maps (maps that use colour and orientation as variables to encode geographic information) and choriented mobile (an optimization of choriented maps for mobile devices). The maps were evaluated in a graphical perception study featuring the comparison of SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) data for several European countries. Choriented maps and choriented mobile visualizations resulted in comparable, sometimes better effectiveness and confidence scores than choropleth and graduated symbol maps. Choriented maps and choriented mobile visualizations also performed well regarding efficiency overall and performed worse only than graduated symbol maps. These results suggest that the use of colour and orientation as visual variables in combination can improve the selectivity of map symbols and user performance during the exploration of geographic data in some scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Cartographic Journa

From Data to Narratives: Scrutinising the Spatial Dimensions of Social and Cultural Phenomena Through Lenses of Interactive Web Mapping

Modern web mapping techniques have enhanced the storytelling capability of cartography. In this paper, we present our recent development of a web mapping facility that can be used to extract interesting stories and unique insights from a diverse range of socio-economic and demographic variables and indicators, derived from a variety of datasets. We then use three curated narratives to show that online maps are effective ways of interactive storytelling and visualisation, which allow users to tailor their own story maps. We discuss the reasons for the revival of the recent attention to narrative mapping and conclude that our interactive web mapping facility powered by data assets can be employed as an accessible and powerful toolkit, to identify geographic patterns of various social and economic phenomena by social scientists, journalists, policymakers, and the public

Interactive Mapping for Large, Open Demographic Datasets using Familiar Geographical Features

Ever increasing numbers of large demographic datasets are becoming available. Many of these datasets are provided as open data, but are in basic repositories where it is incumbent on the user to generate their own visualisations and analysis in order to garner insights. In a bid to facilitate the use and exploration of such datasets we have created a web mapping platform called DataShine. We link data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales with open geographical data to demonstrate the power and utility of creating a conventional map and combining it with a simple but flexible interface and a highly detailed demographic dataset

Set in Stone: Recontextualizing the Lithic Assemblage of a Seventeenth-Century Storage Cellar in Charlestown, Massachusetts

Feature 43 is a domestic structure that belonged to the wealthy seventeenth-century merchant community of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and was excavated in the early 1980s as part of the Maudlin Archaeological District. The extant collection has remained in storage for the last thirty years, demanding a recontextualization of the site, both in provenience and in historical context. Primary sources portray an image of a predominantly European settler household; however, a counter-narrative emerges from lithics found within the assemblage. While the ultimate goal is to analyze the patterns of lithic sourcing and production in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the findings hinge on the reconstruction of the site’s archaeological context. Initial archaeological interpretations did not focus on the locally-sourced lithics found within the assemblage as their provenience, like most of the collection, remains subject to debate. Through a series of distribution analyses, the ambiguity of the lithic assemblage is clarified, and its site provenience is reestablished. Upon establishing context, this project employs a lithic analysis in order to reexamine early colonial interactions between European settlers and Native Americans and to evaluate the nature of the material relationship between the two communities as manifested in colonial assemblages

Bayesian Simultaneous Intervals for Small Areas: An Application to Mapping Mortality Rates in U.S. Health Service Areas

It is customary when presenting a choropleth map of rates or counts to present only the estimates (mean or mode) of the parameters of interest. While this technique illustrates spatial variation, it ignores the variation inherent in the estimates. We describe an approach to present variability in choropleth maps by constructing 100(1-alpha)% simultaneous intervals. The result provides three maps (estimate with two bands). We propose two methods to construct simultaneous intervals from the optimal individual highest posterior density (HPD) intervals to ensure joint simultaneous coverage of 100(1-alpha)%. Both methods exhibit the main feature of multiplying the lower bound and dividing the upper bound of the individual HPD intervals by parameters

Far-Right Extremism in America: A Geospatial Analysis of Incident Distribution

There has been little empirical research on the spatial relationship of violent far-right extremism. Previous studies have only focused on portions of far-right violent incidents, such as homicides, or amalgamated all far-right extremist activity, including legal incidents. This study uses data from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in a temporal frame of 2000 to 2018 to test the relationship of violent incidents against geographic and social factors. The goal is to explore the relationships between macro-level factors and violent far-right extremist incident. The research determines that the presence of hate groups, higher immigrant populations, higher unemployment rates, higher education levels and higher urbanicity in counties all indicate an increased likelihood a violent extremist far-right incident will take place

TEMPLATES FOR CREATING STANDARDIZED CARTOGRAPHIC PRODUCTSFOR MONTANA COUNTY PRE-DISASTER MITIGATION PLANS

The Montana Critical Infrastructure GIS Committee, on behalf of the Montana Department of Administration, has been involved for several years in concentrated efforts to make various types of map products available to those involved in emergency management throughout the state. As a component of this process, the Committee authorized funding for a project devoted to the development of standardized map products for pre-disaster mitigation (PDM) plans during the spring of 2006, and the research was completed later that year. The requirement for the development of these plans was established by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. In Montana, implementation of this legislation has taken place at the county and Indian reservation levels of government. The scope of the research conducted was divided into several components. First, various goals were established in order to provide a general sequence of events for the work. These began with identifying any cartographic requirements established by law and included decisions regarding the actual map construction and techniques for describing the processes utilized. Similarly, assumptions regarding software and other issues were made. Numerous experts in the areas of natural and man-made hazards, emergency management, and other fields were contacted in order to identify those cartographic products that would be most useful. The overall mapmaking process was established, map templates were constructed, and detailed instructions were compiled for use by others. The results of this research compiled in a report and submitted to the GIS Committee in November of 2006. This thesis represents the further development of the results of that research