Geography 200: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODS FOR GEOGRAPHERS
Dr. Rodrigue
Graded Lab 2: BASIC DATA DESCRIPTION AND PRESENTATION
EXERCISE A: Basic Concepts
Levels of Measurement:
After reading chapter 2 in M & M and reviewing your lecture notes, identify the following data sets as (a) binary; (b) other nominal; (c) ordinal: strongly ordered; (d) ordinal: weakly ordered; (e) interval; or (f) ratio. Briefly defend your selection. If the text and the lecture notes don't help you narrow down a particularly difficult choice, you might want to check out Dr. Mark Flaherty's GEOG 226 statistics course at the University of Victoria in Canada: His Lab 1 contains a very clear description of data types. It's at http://www.geog.uvic.ca/geog226/frLab1.html.
1. Survey respondents' genders __________________________________________
2. Temperature in degrees centigrade ____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)#3714_________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(careful here -- this one is tricky -- you need to visit this link)
4. Elevations above sea level in meters on a topo sheet _________________
______________________________________________________________________
5. Places Rated Almanac, individually ranking more than 400 communities
on each of several axes of livability
______________________________________________________________________
6. Rodrigue's classification of 600 archaeological sites in the Near East
of 20,000 years ago to 5,000 years ago as Upper Palaeolithic, Epi-
Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, or Neolithic, based on general technological
level)
______________________________________________________________
7. Precipitation receipt in centimeters at each weather station in
California
___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
8. Yes-no answers on a questionnaire ___________________________________
9 Yes-no-I don't know answers on a questionnaire _______________________
______________________________________________________________________
10. Weather stations classified by average annual precipitation in
centimeters into <25 cm; 25-99 cm; and > 100 cm
______________________________________________________________________
Recognizing Graphic Types:
The links below take you to a variety of graphs. Identify the following graphic representations directly on the handout as (a) number line; (b) histogram; (c) bar chart; (d) frequency polygon; (e) ogive; (f) scatterplot; (g) X-Y fitted curve; and (h) 3-D histogram.
- Grades by
percentage of students in class: ________
- Occupation and
use of therapy: ________
-
Timber
exports by year: ________
- Grades:
________
- Red wine and
age at death: ________
- ________
x
x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
___________________________________________________________
66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85
student scores on midterm
Recognizing Basic Map Types:
Examine the following maps. Identify each map as one of the following: (a) choropleth map; (b) isoline map; (c) dot map; (d) graduated point symbol map.
- Size
of population in world metropolitan areas of more than 10 million in 1985 and
2025: ________
- % of
water withdrawals from surface water sources: ________
- Mean
maximum temperatures, 12 month period: ________
- Hogs in
North
Carolina: ________
- Size of West German cities and percentage of their industrial base in particular industries: ________
EXERCISE B: Application
Data Set:
The land values map shows a somewhat imaginary town's commercial core, with each lot marked and its going land value per square meter. After reading chapter 3 in M & M (and maybe Chapter 2 of HyperStat Online and Lab 1 of Dr. Flaherty's stats course, answer the following questions. Show the results of your calculations to two decimal places of accuracy (even if the answer is an even number or when the second digit after the decimal point is a zero, e.g., 2.00 or 3.50, instead of 2 or 3.5). I'll grade you down a bit if you don't round to two decimal places!
1. Convert the land values into a ranked array. It's easiest to check
each value into your spreadsheet and then ask it to arrange them by
ascending or descending order. That done, you can pretty it up and
print it.
2. Compute the mean land value for Elkford: ______________________________
3. Construct a number line of every single value from highest to lowest,
putting (a) mark(s) by any values that appear in your ranked array,
corresponding to the number of Elkford parcels that have that
value/m2
______________________________
4. What is the modal land value? ______________________________
5. Determine the median land value: ______________________________
6. What would be the interquartile range?
From ______________________________ to ______________________________
7. Construct a histogram for these values, thinking about the issues
raised in M & M 2.4 (chapter 2, section 4). It is okay to do this by
hand, but neatness is important.
8. Construct a choropleth map of land values in Elkford, so that the
"high and low rent districts" are easily apparent. Be sure to
contemplate the issues above (2.4 in M & M) and their figures 2.3 and
2.4. It is okay to do this (neatly) by hand on the blank map provided.
Use this blank map.
9. Construct a frequency polygon, just to say you know how. By hand is okay.
10. Construct an ogive, too, while you're at it. By hand is okay.
11. What is the standard deviation? ______________________________
12. What is the variance? ______________________________
13. Calculate Pearson's Skewness: ______________________________
14. Briefly interpret the skewness of this particular distribution
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
15. Calculate kurtosis, using this formula:
_ _
| _ |
| \ _ |
Kurtosis = | /__(Xi - X)4 | - 3
| -------------- | ______________________________
|_ ns4 _|
16. Briefly interpret the kurtosis value ____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
last revised: 09/17/08
© Dr. Christine M.
Rodrigue