Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
1.6 The utility of geographic visualization
Geographic visualizations have long been used in scholarly research of social and physical
phenomena. They are, of course, a primary technique in geography but they are also widely
used in other disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology, history and epidemiology, to
store spatial data, to analyse information and generate ideas, to test hypotheses and to present
results in a compelling, visual form. Geographic visualization as a method of enquiry and
knowledge creation also plays a growing role in the natural sciences (for example, biological
brain functional sensor mappings). This work is not limited to cartographic mapping; many
other spatial visualization techniques, often using multi-dimensional displays, have been
developed for handling very large, complex spatial datasets without gross simplification
or unfathomable statistical output (for example, volumetric visualization in atmospheric
modelling).
Within many social science disciplines there are growing signs of a 'spatial turn' as research
questions and modes of analysis centre around geographic location and understanding of
spatial relations and interactions come to greater prominence. Many social science disciplines
are exploiting the spatial components of large data that they have collected or generated to
facilitate their analysis. Interactive geographic visualization is then a crucial research tool.
Outside of academia there is also a great deal of excitement in so-called neogeography
(Turner, 2006) and geographic visualization. This is most evident in terms of popular online
mapping of data and new types of application - such as map 'mash-ups' using Google maps,
the map hacking and open-source mapping activists using cheap GPS to visualize the world
afresh. The value of high-resolution aerial photography and satellite imagery for 'backyard'
visualization is being unlocked into easy (and fun) browsable interfaces such as Google
Earth and Microsoft Local Live.
1.7 Conclusions
Although geographic visualization is a powerful research method for exploration, analysis,
synthesis and presentation, it is not without its problems. Three particular issues are worth
discussing: practical limitation, ethical concerns and political interests. Firstly, there are
many practical issues to be faced and it is important to acknowledge the investment of time
and effort necessary to make effective and appropriate geographic visualizations. Certain
processes are now much easier to do today than in the past, but it is not necessarily a quick fix.
Like any chosen research technique, the potential of geographic visualization has external
practical constraints, including data quality and the level of user knowledge.
There are also issues to consider relating to the ethics and responsibility of researchers
producing geographic visualization. As noted above, the processes of data selection, gen-
eralization and classification and the numerous design decisions mean that one can never
remove the subjective elements in the process. Accordingly, Monmonier (1993, p. 185) argues
in relation to thematic maps (and equally applicable to other geographic visualization):
. . . any single map is but one of many cartographic views of a variable or a set of
data. Because the statistical map is a rhetorical device as well as an analytical tool,
ethics require that a single map not impose a deceptively erroneous or carelessly
Search WWH ::
Custom Search