Introduction to GIS and Spatial Analysis
Course Code
GISC 28702 91
Cross Listed Course Code(s)
ARCH 28702, CEGU 28702, GISC 38702, ENST 28702, PPHA 38712, SOCI 20283, SOCI 30283, CEGU 28702, PPHA 28712
Course Description
This course provides an introduction and overview of how spatial thinking is translated into specific methods to handle geographic information and the statistical analysis of such information. This is not a course to learn a specific GIS software program. The goal is to learn how to think about spatial aspects of research questions, as they pertain to how the data are collected, organized and transformed, and how these spatial aspects affect statistical methods. The focus is on research questions relevant in the social sciences, which inspires the selection of the particular methods that are covered. Examples include spatial data integration (spatial join), transformations between different spatial scales (overlay), the computation of “spatial” variables (distance, buffer, shortest path), geovisualization, visual analytics, and the assessment of spatial autocorrelation (the lack of independence among spatial variables). The methods will be illustrated by means of open source software such as QGIS and R.
Course Criteria
Cross-listed with GEOG 38702, ENST 28702, ARCH 28702, SOCI 20283, and SOCI 30283. This course is open to all undergraduates and is included in the Summer Institute in Social Research Methods. It is not open to high school students. This course is required for the Environmental and Urban Studies major and is an approved elective for the minor. It satisfies the methods requirement in the Public Policy Studies major. It is an approved elective for the Geographic Information Science minor, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies major, the Architectural Studies minor, and the Sociology major. This course may be approved as an elective for additional majors by petition.
Instructor(s)
Crystal Bae
UChicago Registration 1