"A companion to the third edition of the textbook Computational Methods and GIS Applications in Social Sciences, this lab manual uses an open-source platform, KNIME to illustrate a step-by-step implementation of each case study in the book. KNIME is a workflow-based platform supporting visual programming and multiple scripting language such as R, Python, and Java. The intuitive, structural workflow helps students understand the methodology of each case study and enables them to easily replicate, transplant and expand the workflow for further exploration with new data or models. Advanced users of spatial analysis can also use this as a reference for GIS automation"--
This lab manual is a companion to the third edition of the textbook Computational Methods and GIS Applications in Social Science. It uses the open-source platform KNIME to illustrate a step-by-step implementation of each case study in the book. KNIME is a workflow-based platform supporting visual programming and multiple scripting language such as R, Python, and Java. The intuitive, structural workflow not only helps students better understand the methodology of each case study in the book, but also enables them to easily replicate, transplant and expand the workflow for further exploration with new data or models. This lab manual could also be used as a GIS automation reference for advanced users in spatial analysis. FEATURES The first hands-on, open-source KNIME lab manual written in tutorial style and focused on GIS applications in social science Includes 22 case studies from the United States and China that parallel the methods developed in the textbook Provides clear step-by-step explanations on how to use the open-source platform KNIME to understand basic and advanced analytical methods through real-life case studies Enables readers to easily replicate and expand their work with new data and models A valuable guide for students and practitioners worldwide engaged in efforts to develop GIS automation in spatial analysis This lab manual is intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in quantitative geography, spatial analysis, GIS applications in socioeconomic studies, GIS applications in business, and location theory, as well as researchers in the similar fields of geography, city and regional planning, sociology, and public administration.
This textbook integrates GIS, spatial analysis, and computational methods for solving real-world problems in various policy-relevant social science applications. Thoroughly updated, the third edition showcases the best practices of computational spatial social science and includes numerous case studies with step-by-step instructions in ArcGIS Pro and open-source platform KNIME. Readers sharpen their GIS skills by applying GIS techniques in detecting crime hotspots, measuring accessibility of primary care physicians, forecasting the impact of hospital closures on local community, or siting the best locations for business. FEATURES Fully updated using the latest version of ArcGIS Pro and open-source platform KNIME Features two brand-new chapters on agent-based modeling and big data analytics Provides newly automated tools for regionalization, functional region delineation, accessibility measures, planning for maximum equality in accessibility, and agent-based crime simulation Includes many compelling examples and real-world case studies related to social science, urban planning, and public policy Provides a website for downloading data and programs for implementing all case studies included in the book and the KNIME lab manual Intended for students taking upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level courses in quantitative geography, spatial analysis, and GIS applications, as well as researchers and professionals in fields such as geography, city and regional planning, crime analysis, public health, and public administration.
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.
Computational approaches offer exciting opportunities for us to do social science differently. This beginner's guide discusses a range of computational methods and how to use them to study the problems and questions you want to research. It assumes no knowledge of programming, offering step-by-step guidance for coding in Python and drawing on examples of real data analysis to demonstrate how you can apply each approach in any discipline. The book also: Considers important principles of social scientific computing, including transparency, accountability and reproducibility. Understands the realities of completing research projects and offers advice for dealing with issues such as messy or incomplete data and systematic biases. Empowers you to learn at your own pace, with online resources including screencast tutorials and datasets that enable you to practice your skills and get up to speed. For anyone who wants to use computational methods to conduct a social science research project, this book equips you with the skills, good habits and best working practices to do rigorous, high quality work.
In the five years since the publication of the first edition of Spatial Analysis: Statistics, Visualization, and Computational Methods, many new developments have taken shape regarding the implementation of new tools and methods for spatial analysis with R. The use and growth of artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning algorithms with a spatial perspective, and the interdisciplinary use of spatial analysis are all covered in this second edition along with traditional statistical methods and algorithms to provide a concept-based problem-solving learning approach to mastering practical spatial analysis. Spatial Analysis with R: Statistics, Visualization, and Computational Methods, Second Edition provides a balance between concepts and practicums of spatial statistics with a comprehensive coverage of the most important approaches to understand spatial data, analyze spatial relationships and patterns, and predict spatial processes. New in the Second Edition: Includes new practical exercises and worked-out examples using R Presents a wide range of hands-on spatial analysis worktables and lab exercises All chapters are revised and include new illustrations of different concepts using data from environmental and social sciences Expanded material on spatiotemporal methods, visual analytics methods, data science, and computational methods Explains big data, data management, and data mining This second edition of an established textbook, with new datasets, insights, excellent illustrations, and numerous examples with R, is perfect for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students in geography and the geosciences.
This open access handbook describes foundational issues, methodological approaches and examples on how to analyse and model data using Computational Social Science (CSS) for policy support. Up to now, CSS studies have mostly developed on a small, proof-of concept, scale that prevented from unleashing its potential to provide systematic impact to the policy cycle, as well as from improving the understanding of societal problems to the definition, assessment, evaluation, and monitoring of policies. The aim of this handbook is to fill this gap by exploring ways to analyse and model data for policy support, and to advocate the adoption of CSS solutions for policy by raising awareness of existing implementations of CSS in policy-relevant fields. To this end, the book explores applications of computational methods and approaches like big data, machine learning, statistical learning, sentiment analysis, text mining, systems modelling, and network analysis to different problems in the social sciences. The book is structured into three Parts: the first chapters on foundational issues open with an exposition and description of key policymaking areas where CSS can provide insights and information. In detail, the chapters cover public policy, governance, data justice and other ethical issues. Part two consists of chapters on methodological aspects dealing with issues such as the modelling of complexity, natural language processing, validity and lack of data, and innovation in official statistics. Finally, Part three describes the application of computational methods, challenges and opportunities in various social science areas, including economics, sociology, demography, migration, climate change, epidemiology, geography, and disaster management. The target audience of the book spans from the scientific community engaged in CSS research to policymakers interested in evidence-informed policy interventions, but also includes private companies holding data that can be used to study social sciences and are interested in achieving a policy impact.
