GIS and the Social Sciences offers a uniquely social science approach on the theory and application of GIS with a range of modern examples. It explores how human geography can engage with a variety of important policy issues through linking together GIS and spatial analysis, and demonstrates the importance of applied GIS and spatial analysis for solving real-world problems in both the public and private sector. The book introduces basic theoretical material from a social science perspective and discusses how data are handled in GIS, what the standard commands within GIS packages are, and what they can offer in terms of spatial analysis. It covers the range of applications for which GIS has been primarily used in the social sciences, offering a global perspective of examples at a range of spatial scales. The book explores the use of GIS in crime, health, education, retail location, urban planning, transport, geodemographics, emergency planning and poverty/income inequalities. It is supplemented with practical activities and datasets that are linked to the content of each chapter and provided on an eResource page. The examples are written using ArcMap to show how the user can access data and put the theory in the textbook to applied use using proprietary GIS software. This book serves as a useful guide to a social science approach to GIS techniques and applications. It provides a range of modern applications of GIS with associated practicals to work through, and demonstrates how researcher and policy makers alike can use GIS to plan services more effectively. It will prove to be of great interest to geographers, as well as the broader social sciences, such as sociology, crime science, health, business and marketing.

This is the first book to provide sociologists, criminologists, political scientists, and other social scientists with the methodological logic and techniques for doing spatial analysis in their chosen fields of inquiry. The book contains a wealth of examples as to why these techniques are worth doing, over and above conventional statistical techniques using SPSS or other statistical packages. GIS is a methodological and conceptual approach that allows for the linking together of spatial data, or data that is based on a physical space, with non-spatial data, which can be thought of as any data that contains no direct reference to physical locations.

"The Steinbergs have produced a very relevant book for the times. . . . While many books have emerged on the details of GIS, few resources exist to help teach the merger of GIS with more standard research methods. The Steinbergs accomplish this goal in a way that is readily accessible even to undergraduates." —Theodore Wagenaar, Miami University "The Steinbergs take the reader through all of the essential foundations of GIS... using examples drawn from the social sciences throughout. This book will be essential reading for any social scientist looking for a straightforward introduction to GIS." —Mike Goodchild, University of California, Santa Barbara Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences: Investigating Space and Place is the first book to take a cutting-edge approach to integrating spatial concepts into the social sciences. In this text, authors Steven J. Steinberg and Sheila L. Steinberg simplify GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for practitioners and students in the social sciences through the use of examples and actual program exercises so that they can become comfortable incorporating this research tool into their repertoire and scope of interest. The authors provide learning objectives for each chapter, chapter summaries, links to relevant Web sites, as well as suggestions for student research projects. Key Features: Presents step-by-step guidance for integrating GIS with both quantitative and qualitative research Provides an introduction to the use of GIS technology written at an accessible level for individuals without GIS experience while providing depth and guidance appropriate to experienced GIS users Offers an associated interactive Web site—http://www.socialsciencegis.org—to provide a forum for sharing experience and ideas, input to the authors, and a variety of other examples, data, and information related to the topics covered in the text Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences offers a nuts-and-bolts introduction to GIS for undergraduate and graduate students taking methods courses across the social sciences. It is an excellent textbook for courses dedicated to GIS research and its applications in the fields of Sociology, Criminology, Public Health, Geography, Anthropology, Political Science, and Environmental Studies. It is also a valuable resource for any social scientist or practitioner interested in applying GIS technology to his or her work. An Instructor′s Resource CD, containing PowerPoint slides, test questions, and suggested Web site links, among other items, is also available to all professors adopting this text.

Studies in the humanities and the social sciences can be enhanced through the use of geographic information systems (GIS). However, this computer-aided method of analysis is worthless unless researchers can devote the time necessary to learn what it is, what it can do, and how to use it. Resulting from a six-year project entitled Spatial Inf

The purpose of this volume is to provide a review and analysis of the theory, research, and practice related to geospatial technologies in social studies education. In the first section, the history of geospatial technologies in education, the influence of the standards movement, and the growth of an international geospatial education community are explored. The second section consists of examples and discussion of the use of geospatial technologies for teaching and learning history, geography, civics, economics, and environmental science. In the third section, theoretical perspectives are proposed that could guide research and practice in this field. This section also includes reviews and critiques of recent research relevant to geospatial technologies in education. The final section examines the theory, research, and practice associated with teacher preparation for using geospatial technologies in education.

This book elucidates how cyberGIS (that is, new-generation geographic information science and systems (GIS) based on advanced computing and cyberinfrastructure) transforms computation- and data-intensive geospatial discovery and innovation. It comprehensively addresses opportunities and challenges, roadmaps for research and development, and major progress, trends, and impacts of cyberGIS in the era of big data. The book serves as an authoritative source of information to fill the void of introducing this exciting and growing field. By providing a set of representative applications and science drivers of cyberGIS, this book demonstrates how cyberGIS has been advanced to enable cutting-edge scientific research and innovative geospatial application development. Such cyberGIS advances are contextualized as diverse but interrelated science and technology frontiers. The book also emphasizes several important social dimensions of cyberGIS such as for empowering deliberative civic engagement and enabling collaborative problem solving through structured participation. In sum, this book will be a great resource to students, academics, and geospatial professionals for leaning cutting-edge cyberGIS, geospatial data science, high-performance computing, and related applications and sciences.

Geographic Information Systems are an essential tool for analyzing and representing quantitative spatial data. Qualitative GIS explains the recent integration of qualitative research with Geographical Information Systems With a detailed contextualising introduction, the text is organised in three sections: Representation: examines how researchers are using GIS to create new types of representations; working with spatial data, maps, and othervisualizations to incorporate multiple meanings and to provide texture and context. Analysis: discusses the new techniques of analysis that are emerging at the margins between qualitative research and GIS, this in the wider context of a critical review of mixed-methods in geographical research Theory: questions how knowledge is produced, showing how ideas of ′science′ and ′truth′ inform research, and demonstrates how qualitative GIS can be used to interrogate discussions of power, community, and social action Making reference to representation, analysis, and theory throughout, the text shows how to frame questions, collect data, analyze results, and represent findings in a truly integrated way. An important addition to the mixed methods literature, Qualitative GIS will be the standard reference for upper-level students and researchers using qualitative methods and Geographic Information Systems.