Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Acquiring Geographic Information:
Geographic information
is information about loca-
tions and their characteristics. If you want to know where all the pizza shops are and why, then
a first step may be to consult the Yellow Pages or some other directory. You may also visit
the sites and acquire information about their characteristics. Similarly, someone going into the
pizza business may do the same thing in order to learn the locations and characteristics of the
sites that competitors have previously chosen.
Organizing Geographic Information:
Aftergeographicinformationhasbeencollected,it
needs to be organized in ways that facilitate interpretation and analysis. This may be achieved
by grouping together relevant notes, or by constructing tables, diagrams, maps, or other graph-
ics. Thus, the person who wants to understand the geography of pizza shops might produce a
map of them based on information previously acquired. The person who is considering going
into the pizza business may do the same.
Analyzing Geographic Information:
Acquiring and organizing geographic information
paves the way for analyzing geographic information. This is when the most heavy-duty think-
ingoccurs.Analysisinvolvesmakingcomparisons,seekingrelationships,andlookingforcon-
nections between geographic information. What factors explain the locations of existing pizza
shops? What factors make for a great location for a future pizza shop? Analyzing geographic
information is kind of like playing a mystery game in which you use the information you pre-
viously acquired and organized to solve a puzzle.
Answering Geographic Questions:
The process of thinking geographically culminates in
the presentation of conclusions and generalizations based on the information that has been ac-
quired,organized,andanalyzed.Itmayreveal,forexample,thatpizzashopstendtobelocated
in places that are readily accessible to a large number of people or that have lots of passers-by.
Those conclusions may, of course, prove very useful to the person who wants to open a new
pizza shop and is looking for the best possible location.
Thinking geographically entails two lines of thought that are similar as well as different. They
are alike in that both involve the bulleted points listed previously. The difference is that one
approach focuses on where things
are
located, while the other ponders where things
should be
located. To highlight this difference, the discussion above repeatedly referred to two people.
One was trying to understand where pizza shops
are
located, and the other who was trying to
determine where a pizza shop
should be
located. The following cases studies help reinforce
these perspectives. Each poses a geographic question and challenges you to analyze geograph-
ic information before you arrive at an answer. That is, each has you thinking geographically.
In doing so, you begin to acquire and develop important conceptual skills that constitute major
mileposts in becoming a true geographer.
