GI Analysis and GIS - A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts - page 266

3. Why distinguish between simple and complex types of analysis?
This distinction helps one to grapple with analysis applications that make
more of the choices underlying the analysis visible.
4. Which GI analysis type is more common, buffers or overlay?
Neither. Both are of great importance generally. Specific disciplines or
applications may use one or the other more often, but across the board
both are very important.
5. Is there a trade-off between accuracy and reliability?
Generally not, but in cases where positional and temporal accuracy are
both involved, there may be a trade-off between lower positional accuracy
and greater temporal accuracy or vice-versa.
6. How is Chrisman's definition of GI different from the “input-process-
output” definition?
Chrisman's definition accounts for different interactions and context
issues.
7. What are the elements of Chrisman's GIS definition?
The four “activities” in Chrisman's GIS definition are making measure-
ments of geographic phenomena and processes, making representations of
what was measured, performing further operations, and making transfor-
mations to other representational systems.
8. How does the limited ability of GIS to consider process constrain
considerations of events?
Events in most GIS need to be geographically represented as things. A set
of things ordered by the time of their observation can be used to create an
animation, but this dynamic visualization does not necessarily correspond
to the actual process.
9. What is the difference between a translation and a transformation?
Translations are done by humans, usually working with geographic infor-
mation on computers, but sometimes working with only maps and other
printed material. Transformations are done by GIS software to produce
new geographic information from existing geographic information, for
example, a buffer to generate the extent of an animal's biotope from the
site of its nesting.
10. What is a common application of buffers?
Buffers are commonly used to create a zone that corresponds to the effects
of a process. For example, buffers offer a crude way to represent the spread
of noise from vehicles, airplanes taking off and landing, or pollution emis-
sions from a smokestack or outlet pipe.
Chapter Readings
Chrisman, N. R. (1999). What Does “GIS” mean? Transactions in GIS , 3 (2), 175-186.
Dangermond, J. (1979). A Case Study of the Zulia Regional Planning Study,