ECON 3510 - Mapping, Spatial Analysis, and Social Issues

Crosslisted: Also listed as QMBE 3510

Goals: Students will learn to conceptualize social issues within a spatial framework by practicing a variety of analytical methods. They will gain experience with managing and manipulating spatial data to perform both descriptive analyses as well as hypothesis testing on an original research question.

Content: This class will focus on introducing students to spatial analysis while also providing an entry point to using the industry-standard software package for GIS (ArcGIS). While learning the basics of data manipulation and management, students will be challenged to think about spatial or locational components to data generating processes. We will examine the best way to measure the clustering we observe in measurements of household income, educational attainment, air quality, or crime reports, for example. Students will learn to both take advantage of spatial aspects of data and recognize when conventional analysis might be misleading due to the presence of geographic correlation. We will also spend time on map design and effective presentation of analyses based on spatial data.

Prerequisite: MATH 1200 or QMBE 1310, grade of C- or higher

Credits: 4