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BASIC STATISTICS

MAPPING

MAPPING--Graphically represent the distribution of an variable for which the data have been aggregated into geo-political units (e.g., counties in the US, states in the US, nations); data collected on individual people (e.g., GSS data sets) can not be mapped.

1.  When you select the MAPPING option, a window appears in which you indicate the variable you want to map (either name or number).

2.  You can indicate a second variable and the output will give you two maps, so that you can compare them.
A.  If you compare two maps, the correlation coefficient (Pearson r) will be displayed in the upper right hand corner of the bottom map.  For more information about correlation coefficients, go to the MicroCase correlation page.

3.  You do not have to worry about missing data or eliminating meaningless responses with the MAPPING option; you might, however, want to restrict the analysis to a subset of the states (e.g., those in the south; those below the median poverty level), and you can do that with the SUBSET option.

4.  Once you have indicated the variable that interests you, and any comparison or subset variables, click on OK in the upper right hand corner.  A map of the US will appear on the screen and fill with different colors indicating 5 (usually) levels of the variable you=ve selected.
A.  Click on LEGEND on the left side of the screen to see the variable values represented by each of the colors.
B.  Click on SPOT FILL on the left side of the screen to convert the map to one which uses spots to indicate the various levels of the variable; the advantage of a SPOT map over an AREA map is that the spot map uses color to indicate the level of the variable and different size spots to indicate different intensities within each level.
C.  Click on LIST: RANK on the left side of the screen to obtain a list of states and their values on the variable ranked from high to low.
D.  Click on LIST: ALPHA to obtain an alphabetical list of the states and their values on the variable.

5.  The icons in the top tool bar allow you to print or cut and paste a screen, review and cut and paste the FILE NOTES, review and cut and paste the variable definitions, return to the basic MAPPING screen, or return to the MicroCase MENU screens. 

for questions or comments contact me at mduncombe@coloradocollege.edu
last updated on November 25, 2002