Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
school, it would be desirable that students acquire a sense of space and
knowledge about their own geographic world using maps frequently. This
use - or its absence - together with what is indirectly acquired from per-
sonal experiences, are essential parts of any decision-making process that
deals with location. Therefore, any attempt to understand the process of
deciding what is best with respect to maps has to consider, in addition to
the obvious expected task performance, the user's background.
Hegarty et al. (2009) define the term 'naïve cartography', referring to
common-sense intuitions about the best manner in which to visualize geo-
graphic data. The same authors argue that whether correct or erroneous,
these intuitions will influence behavior and reasoning when working with
maps. Both the map design taking user's preference into account and the
manner that this user believes to be the best one to deal with a map seems
to be important issues for 21
st
century cartography and can be grouped in
emotional map design research, analogous to Norman's field of knowledge
in human computer interaction science.
2- Methods
The methodology adopted for this experimental research was developed in
order to measure the effectiveness of three different mapping techniques,
and as a consequence, three different visual variables: color, size and loca-
tion. Choropleth, proportional range-graded symbols and dot mapping
techniques were used to measure the importance of these graphic variables
for decision-making based on spatial analysis.
In the context of the test, users were asked to assume the position of con-
sultant for the municipality of Maringá (PR). To make decisions about
where to allocate financial resources, the public health department adopted
a participative strategy: Consultants, people generally not related to public
departments, are hired to give opinions about how and where the budget is
effectively applied. Professional cartographers were asked to produce
maps in support, considering that consultants have no specific knowledge
of cartography or health care issues. Express instructions about this context
were orally presented to the subjects, in a way to make this situation as
close as possible to a real one.
