The 1900 Grinnell Census data could help us explore questions about the living patterns of Grinnell residents in 1900. It also helps us understand details about Grinnell residents’ employment and how this was related to the geography of Grinnell. Different basemaps emphasize different aspects of the geography of Grinnell. Some, such as the satellite images connect viewers with images of the current geography, while others utilize features which are suggestive of antique maps. The basemaps influence how viewers conceptualize the time the data represents.
Variables with high variation are easier to visualize than variables with little variation. There are many ways to customize the visualization, including size, color, and style of the visualization. The map quickly becomes overly busy and difficult to read with multiple layers and variables displayed at once. One of the most effective ways to display multiple variables at once while keeping the visualization simple is to add an attribute to another variable. This lets viewers investigate variations in multiple variables at once, through, for example, the size and color of the data point.
For one of my layers, I plotted the number of grandparents born in the United States. The data are quantitative, but recorded like a categorical variable with five levels reflecting the fraction of the head of household’s grandparents who were born in the United States: 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1. I inverted the color scale so that the scale emphasizes households with more grandparents who were born outside of the United States.
I could help someone create a basic map if they had a csv file with their data. I could teach them how to create a map and customize its layers. I know there are many features of ArcGIS that I have not learned yet, though. I found some of the default settings frustrating, particularly the clustering, which made it impossible to see individual data points. I am curious to learn more about the analysis tools as well as the measuring and directions capabilities.
