she interviewed. Kelly was unique in that she transferred much of the sociodemographic, employment, and housing data collected about individual households onto maps of the city to illustrate geographic patterns of poverty. She was a pioneer in integrating geographic variables into the study of social inequality. This was one very early application of spatial analysis techniques, albeit without the benefit of GIS, to study social inequality. Kelly believed that the scientific documentation of social inequalities could help lead to improving the working and housing conditions of the poor. Thus, geographic location can be a very important factor to consider when studying social problems.
Today, researchers can employ the same approach, but the work will be much easier given the advances of GIS technology and software.
Railroads as indicators of civilized society
Mark Jefferson is another early pioneer in using geographic variables and spatial analysis to study social issues. In 1928, Jefferson, a geographer, used the geographic concept of buffers to analyze the influence of the railroad on settlement patterns in different societies (figure 1.10). His study was unique because he operationalized the modernization or “civilization” of different societies based on the networks of rails (Jefferson 1928). He attempted to analyze societies’ levels of civilization based on their proximity to railroad lines (Corbett 2004). His assumption was that the presence of railroad networks was indicative of “civilized” society.
Figure 1.10 Railroad tracks served as an important means of transportation and thus a spatially relevant feature as towns and resources developed across the country. Yana Gayvoronskaya/Shutterstock.com.
Jefferson drew buffer zones (mapping a ten-mile distance) around the railroads in different countries throughout the world (Jefferson 1928). The notion of buffers was used to extend the examination of the geographic lines the railroads caused. Jefferson’s use of buffers in the study helped people understand where railroads both existed and where they did not exist (Arlinghaus, Goodman, and Jacobs 1997). In other words, those areas outside of the buffer zones represented areas that would not directly benefit from their construction. Buffering around the railroad tracks spread the width of the line, which assisted in mapping and comprehending the significant impact that railroads had on communal development and the “civilization” of societies.
Jefferson found that places that had more extensive railway systems were more “civilized” than places with fewer railway systems. Today, such a study would be viewed as ethnocentric and biased because it favors traits of development that are partial to Western societies (the railroad). Nevertheless, Jefferson was an early applied researcher who adopted a creative approach to incorporating geographic spatial variables into a research project.
Spatial thinking in research
Developing the ability to integrate different forms of data is essential to conducting good research. Developing this ability is about seeing the connections, themes, and patterns in the data and tying the various parts together. A good researcher will seek to develop an understanding of the complete picture of the issue under study, while also being keenly aware of the parts that compose the whole. A good researcher has creativity, vision, and patience, which describes in essence the ability to think spatially.
Spatial thinking is especially valuable to the research process because it enables you to visualize, communicate, and implement based on a unique and integrated research process. The spatial perspective allows you to contextualize the problem you are studying, to integrate different forms of data, and to develop a holistic understanding of the particular issue you are considering. Integrating GIS into research methods is natural in our increasingly interconnected world.
Visualize and communicate
Engaging in spatial thinking enables you to better envision your situation. Why? It allows you to picture, in a clear, visual manner, an issue, problem, or situation that needs to be confronted. You can do this using a computer screen or a printed map. More important, the strength of spatial thinking, particularly using GIS, lies in bringing the different types of information or data layers together. Doing this can create a clearer picture of what is going on.
Being able to visualize data or different types of information means that you can convey the information more easily. The visualization GIS enables allows you to represent complex data in a pictorial format, which may be more quickly and easily understood than tables of numbers and textual descriptions. The spatial portrayal of data is effective in conveying information to people regardless of their cultural background or spoken language. As researchers engaged in research working with communities and policy makers, we have found GIS to be an extremely effective tool for communication with a variety of audiences. Various community groups with which we have worked have used maps to communicate with policy makers, to “tell a story” or, rather, “document” their situation, which is all part of the research process. Time is often of the essence when people are trying to communicate or share information, and a well-constructed spatial output can quickly convey a story. GIS can greatly enhance the capacity to share complex information in an effective and visual manner.
Contextualize
Every research project has a context, which is the setting for your issue or project. To understand a situation, you need to understand the place where it occurs. Where is your issue located? Is it in a far-away place or an urban area? Who lives there? What do they have access to? What is the surrounding environment like?
Let’s assume for a moment that you are an anthropologist studying health for a rural indigenous society in Brazil. Part of understanding the group and its culture involves understanding the environment or context in which the group functions. For instance, is the group you are studying living in a rain forest? Is there a health clinic where the group is located? If not, what is their proximity to a city or town that has a health clinic? How long does it take to get to the nearest city or town? Do the people travel by river or road? Do the people collect herbs and other products from their environment to stay healthy? Where are these products located in proximity to the village?
Capturing the context of a people is a very important factor when considering almost any social phenomenon. As an example, if you were to map the original settlements of Californian indigenous tribes, you would see that their settlement patterns often followed surrounding watershed boundaries. In other words, the physical landscape features influenced the clustering patterns and social communities, including the topography of the land, water, trees, and wildlife. All of these factors together effectively determined the physical locations of the tribal communities and their access to resources.
Integrate
Probably the most important advantage of incorporating GIS into research methods is the ability to integrate different types of knowledge and information. Because GIS is built on a database platform (hence “information system” is a core part of its name), what we are really considering is an analytical software tool that allows us to work with any type of data, including quantitative and qualitative data, that can be coded and organized in database format. Data are not limited to coded text or numeric values but may also include digital files, such as sound recordings, digital images or video, or any other digital data, that can be stored in a computer for further analysis. Because of this, GIS programs can tell a story. Such features in the software greatly expand the usability of the software. Most important, when you have the ability to share information in a number of ways, visually and verbally, the potential impact can be much greater. Ultimately, many of the qualitative data collected