GIS - Practices

Question 1

GIS (Geographic Information Systems/Science)

Answer 1

form of spatial analysis which overlays non-spatial data as a way to simply the complexity of the environment (Longley et al., 2015)

Question 2

GIS emerged in 1854

Answer 2

with John Snow’s research into the Cholera Outbreak

Question 3

Big Data

Answer 3

enabled GIS to advance but is problematic as it gives institutions and companies power as they have the capability to deal with this data

Question 4

Big data has ethical concerns

Answer 4

through the ‘mosaic effect’ as the merging of characteristics lead to be people becoming identifiable (Longley et al., 2015)

Question 5

Two main types of GIS research

Answer 5

Vector (coordinate, line and polygons) and raster (grid box data)

Question 6

Attributes refer to the non-spatial information

Answer 6

nominal, geometry, ordinal, discrete and continuous

Question 7

Deconstructing the map (Harley, 1989)

Answer 7

reveals the cultural and political messages embedded within maps e.g. thicker lines to denote european importance

Question 8

Maps are associated with colonialism and imperialism

Answer 8

as they were used as tool to enact power, marginalise indigenous communities e.g. North America and legitimise their own knowledges (Harley, 1989)

Question 9

GIS results in a high level of responsibility to the researchers (Monmonier, 2015)

Answer 9

as they have the control to convey certain ideas and messages

Question 10

GIS posses ethical concerns (Cresswell, 2014) as it is often used as a tool for surveillance (Jefferson, 2017)

Answer 10

CLEARmap (Citizen and Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) is a policing map used in Chicago –> leads to the racialisation of citizens as crime is decontextualised and people are simplified to coordinates –> geographic and ethnicity are only elements retained –> map used in public perception

Question 11

Counter-mapping was produced with the intent of

Answer 11

working against dominating power structures (Hodgson and Chroeder, 2002)

Question 12

Counter mapping is possible

Answer 12

through open-source tools and online databases (Peluso, 1995)

Question 13

GIS has a

Answer 13

code of conduct e.g. transparency as it has to follow the FAIR principles (Lucchesi, 2020) with indigenous collaborative research this includes encouraging self-determination

Question 14

Critical GIS/ Feminist GIS

Answer 14

argues to focus more strongly on qualitative data over quantitative data to detangle power imbalances (Kwan, 2002)

Question 15

People with disabilities produced maps highlighting the hostility of the high street

Answer 15

as a counter-mapping example to call for more inclusive urban planning (Kitchin, 2002)

Question 16

GIS emerged in the second quantitative revolution

Answer 16

the first quantitative revolution occurred in the 1950s with the scientific method being encouraged within geography to attract more researchers (Cresswell, 2014)

Question 17

The emergence of GIS and big data means that

Answer 17

the subjectivity and emotion in research is replaced by algorithms –> concern for human geographers (Cresswell, 2014) as sampling is no longer required –> paradigm shift within the discipline (Kitchin, 2013)

Question 18

GIS is tied up with representation

Answer 18

as they can effectively depict complex data, though this can lead to ethical concerns (Elwood, 2010)

Question 19

Wikipedia takes the IP address of those contributing

Answer 19

depiction of knowledge production (Hardy, 2010) - ethical concerns?

Question 20

GIS can be useful e.g. georeferencing quotes from ethnographic research can provide more context and understanding to the research (Watts, 2010)

Answer 20

Google Earth has a Global Awareness Level to inform people of NGO work with hyperlinks –> increasing the number of actors within research (Elwood, 2010)

Question 21

GIS is also valuable at creating a space in which emotional relations can be produced between geographically separated communities

Answer 21

e.g. Argentinian human rights and remembrance groups (Bosco, 2007).

Question 22

Big data is defined as high-volume, real-time, high resolution data sets (Kitchin, 2013)

Answer 22

with the data coming in the form of directed data in digital means, automated data from phones and oysters or volunteered data like computer cookies (Kitchin, 2013)

Question 23

Examples of respectful mapping research (Lucchesi, 2020)

Answer 23

Be open about positionality, work with local cartographers, respect insider information may not be shared, be open to non-western forms of mapping and respect local laws and traditions

Question 24

Big data produces inequality concerns as the power to produce, collect, construct and store data will be those with access to funding and computational power on this scale (Graham and Shelton, 2013)

Answer 24

this will marginalise some knowledges and privilege others (Crutcher and Zook, 2009) –> likely producing a data shadow as some regions will be left unrepresented

Question 25

Is GIS a tool

Answer 25

or a science (Pickles, 1997)

Question 26

GIS is intrinsically a reductionist method with scalar mapping and is a western form of knowledge production (Olson et al., 2016)

Answer 26

indigenous knowledges may prefer to conduct mapping via a relational approach in which places of meaning are produced, overlaid with metadata explaining the teacher and wider ecological kinship relations (Oslon et al., 2016)

Question 27

mapping sexuality through GIS actively puts people at risk

Answer 27

particularly if it is done in countries which persecute these individuals (Kwan, 2002)

Question 28

The Global Indigenous Data Alliance –> principles to follow when conducting collaborative indigenous research

Answer 28

e.g. data is easy to access, can be easily interpreted, benefits local communities, and reflexivity is considered throughout the while research project (Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group, 2009 cited in Lucchesi, 2020: 166).

Question 29

Counter mapping can deconstruct unequal power relations

Answer 29

feminist geographers using 3-D forms of mapping to understand the intersectionality shaping women’s experiences of place (Kwan, 2002).

Question 30

critical cartography (Harley, 1989)

Answer 30

did not analyse power relations and multiple perspectives, but did emphasise the importance of deconstructing maps (Del Casino and Hanna, 2005).