Chapter 1: This chapter helped inform me on the basic principles of GIS. It opened my eyes to how specific and precise some data sets must be in order to achieve the expected outcome. Initially, when using GIS, the chapter discusses the importance of framing the question that you would like to answer. Mitchell discusses the different methods that you can use to achieve your results, as well as different ways the results can be presented to suit your needs. He discusses that data can be presented very specifically or on a broader scale. Mitchell goes over how continuous data may be processed differently from other data. This was something that intrigued me because it can be related to weather maps showing precipitation and wind patterns. It was also interesting to learn that this data is not as exact as other data presented by GIS because the data is processed as it varies on the landscape, and creates models using data that are similar to each other to create groupings on the map. Further in the chapter, Mitchell also discussed the differences between vector and raster models. While I can identify the use for each model, I personally prefer the vector models because they are more exact and are displayed both in a map and within a table. Raster models are used to process continuous data. However, I think the continuous data is a little more difficult to understand and process. For example, issues can be run into when presenting raster data because of the pixel size, which can impact how easy the data is to interpret. Mitchel also discusses the process of overlaying certain parts of a map and its difficulties. I never would have thought about the difficulties that you might run into based on the size of the area you are trying to examine and the curvature of the globe.
Chapter 2: This chapter helped me to understand visual displays of a map and how important these displays can be when using GIS. Mitchell talks about the importance of certain patterns in maps and how they can apply differently to each map. This let me know that when planning to map something out, I have to be specific and very conscious of how I represent different data points. This also let me know that mapping can be a process of trial and error. Sometimes, if symbols or colors on a map are too simple than it can be confusing for the audience viewing that map. Additionally, the chapter taught me the importance of breaking a map down into subsets. Using subsets can help me break down all of the data into smaller groups and notice patterns among the smaller groups of data, rather than all of the data at once. On the other hand, something that I also have to keep in mind when creating these maps is that I don’t want them to be too clustered, so I need to keep in mind the scale of the map. For example, if I have a larger map, I can create more categories and boundaries without them being too clustered. However, on a smaller-scale map, the same number of boundaries or categories might be too complex and make the map difficult to read and decipher. In order to avoid this, I can group the categories together in a table to differentiate between a general and a specific category. I think that this can be very useful because it allows me to see both the complex data and more specific categories if I need to. It also allows me to see the categories grouped together, which makes them easier to read on a map. I think one of the easiest ways to do this, however, is to group the data together by symbol rather than code. This way, there is a distinct visual difference that I can identify with having to read all of the codes in the data.Â
Chapter 3: This chapter went further into depth about the different types of visual displays for maps and charts. The chapter discussed the different types of maps and ways to analyze data, and how they can be suited based on the way the data is skewed. While this chapter went into a lot of detail about counts, amounts, and ways to display data, it was a little overwhelming. I think that all the data provided by the chapter was very useful, and something that I can look back on to help me in the future. It was a lot to look at all at once. I think that after being able to apply the different methods that the chapter discussed, they will become more memorable. However, trying to differentiate between them after reading about them is a challenge for me. Mitchell discusses the importance of ranks, ratios, and densities and how they can be applied to certain maps. He goes further into this discussion by talking about how this data can be grouped into classes. This is something that I think is super important because it highly influences how the data is presented and how easy it is to understand. If the data is too exact, it can make it harder to read; however, by grouping it into classes, the data is simplified for the viewer. Additionally, Mitchel goes over the different ways that data can be displayed on a map. While I understand the importance of the variety of displays, I think that some of them make it confusing to analyze the data. For example, while I think the 3D models are cool, I also think that they make it difficult to label and analyze data.