based research methods. Carrying out an analysis in GIS is just the first step in answering spatial questions and informing decision making with your results. As a GIS analyst implementing a study, the effort you make to ask appropriate questions, identify relevant data, employ analytical methods, and present results effectively may provide essential information to policy makers. Conversely, if you find yourself in the role of decision maker, you will benefit from understanding the underlying methods used in the project. In this chapter, we lay out steps to follow to achieve solid, spatially based policy.
Chapter 15: Future directions for geospatial use
In chapter 15, we explore directions, trends, and emerging new applications in spatial technology. Although it can be difficult to accurately predict the future, particularly as the future may evolve around computing technology, a number of trends are already incorporating spatial information in new ways. Not so many years ago, Global Positioning System–enabled smartphones were uncommon, and in just a span of a few years, they have become prevalent. We are now seeing the emergence of wearable computers, in the forms of glasses and “smart clothing,” that not only have location intelligence but may also include additional sensors to monitor environmental or individual conditions such as the heart rate of the wearer. The Internet of Things has also begun to emerge, forming a world in which almost everything is in some way “connected.”
Acknowledgments
First, we would like to thank everyone at Esri Press for assisting us throughout the development and writing of this book. We would also like to acknowledge our friends and families—and especially our son Joshua—for their patience on those many days when the book took priority. Additionally, we want to acknowledge the many communities, research teams, and students with whom we have worked throughout our careers. All of those people, places, and experiences have directly informed our writing. Without the opportunity to develop our thinking about GIS in research with the valuable living laboratory of the classroom, we would never have had the opportunity to implement, improve, and bring these concepts together in a coherent fashion. Finally, GIS has played a major role in our personal lives. It was GIS that initially led to us meeting as new faculty members early in our careers and, ultimately, to marrying. We regularly refer to this phenomenon as “GIS Love,” and perhaps in sharing our own passion for GIS here, a little bit of “GIS Love” will come to our readers, too.
About the authors
Dr. Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg
Sheila is a full professor of social sciences at Brandman University. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara; her master of science degree at the University of California, Berkeley; and her doctorate at the Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania. She enjoys guiding students in research and teaching them about the important role research plays in effective policy creation. Sheila’s research interests include interdisciplinary research methods, environmental sociology, applied sociology, community, geospatial research, culture, and policy. She has conducted field research in Nepal, Guatemala, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and California. She is also a former US Peace Corps volunteer, having served in Guatemala, where she was involved in community development and taught classes at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, in Huehuetenango. Throughout her career, Sheila’s primary research focus has been the examination of people and their relationships to space and place. Her research examines the intersection of community, people, place, and the environment through a policy lens. During her career, Sheila has taught at Western New Mexico University, Silver City, New Mexico; Humboldt State University, Arcata, California; and Chapman University, Orange, California. In 2013, she joined Brandman University, Irvine, California, and part of the Chapman University system. She currently teaches courses on research methods, senior capstone, diversity, and environmental science. Sheila enjoys Brandman University for its innovative approach to teaching and learning.
Dr. Steven J. Steinberg
In 2011, Steve joined the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, a public agency for environmental research in Costa Mesa, California, where he is a Principle Scientist leading the research and development of geospatial and data collection, management, analysis, and visualization systems. Steve received his bachelor of science degree from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio; his master of science degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. From 1998 to 2011, Steve was a professor of geospatial science at Humboldt State University, Arcata, California and he introduced the first geographic information system (GIS) course at Chapman University, Orange California in 2011. Steve was honored as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair (Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada) in 2004 and a Fulbright Senior Scholar (University of Helsinki, Finland) in 2008. He continues to remain involved with the Fulbright program as a disciplinary reviewer in geography. Steve is active as a member and leader in multiple professional geospatial organizations, including the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, the GIS Certification Institute, and the California Geographic Information Association. Steve has been a Certified GIS Professional (GISP) since 2008. He also serves on a number of statewide and regional workgroups that address data management and visualization of spatial data. Through each of these opportunities, he remains actively engaged in the practice and application of GIS in both environmental and human contexts and in actively exploring opportunities to incorporate the integrative power of GIS across a variety of disciplines involving space and place.
Chapter 1
Why think spatially?
In this chapter, you will learn a new approach to thinking spatially about research questions and methods. You will explore the following questions: Why think spatially? What does thinking spatially really mean? Why should I incorporate spatial analysis into my research methods? You will learn about geographic information systems (GIS) and how they are used as a component of research. You will also explore the added value that spatially based research methods bring to enhance scientific investigation and how GIS research methods fit into an overall research framework to provide a more complete picture of the topic under study. This chapter serves as a foundation for later sections of the text.
Learning objectives
Key concepts
formal spatial analysis
home