Читать книгу GIS Research Methods - Steven J. Steinberg - Страница 40

Engaging in spatial thinking enables you to better envision your situation. Why? It allows you to picture, in a clear, visual manner, an issue, problem, or situation that needs to be confronted. You can do this using a computer screen or a printed map. More important, the strength of spatial thinking, particularly using GIS, lies in bringing the different types of information or data layers together. Doing this can create a clearer picture of what is going on.

Being able to visualize data or different types of information means that you can convey the information more easily. The visualization GIS enables allows you to represent complex data in a pictorial format, which may be more quickly and easily understood than tables of numbers and textual descriptions. The spatial portrayal of data is effective in conveying information to people regardless of their cultural background or spoken language. As researchers engaged in research working with communities and policy makers, we have found GIS to be an extremely effective tool for communication with a variety of audiences. Various community groups with which we have worked have used maps to communicate with policy makers, to “tell a story” or, rather, “document” their situation, which is all part of the research process. Time is often of the essence when people are trying to communicate or share information, and a well-constructed spatial output can quickly convey a story. GIS can greatly enhance the capacity to share complex information in an effective and visual manner.