Abstract

The use of GIS techniques in social sciences in general and mapping in particular has become increasingly common in social science applications, in fields ranging from anthropology to criminology and from epidemiology to real estate analysis etc. Recently, the focus in these applications has moved from simple data manipulation and visualization to spatial data analysis, both exploratory as well as confirmatory. In general terms, spatial analysis contributes to the “toolbox” of the social scientist since it provides the basis for data integration, or the conversion of data collected at one spatial scale (and time dimension) to other scales and dimensions. Specifically, this is needed when geo-locational information must be manipulated or when spatial data must be obtained for locations or areal units for which they are not originally recorded.