Читать книгу GIS Research Methods - Steven J. Steinberg - Страница 97

When using a GIS as a tool for your research, collecting and preparing the data for analysis can be significant to the research process. For any kind of research, data analysis and organization are time consuming; for GIS-based projects, you can expect that 75 to 80 percent of the time and effort you expend will be used in collecting, creating, or converting data to ensure that everything is ready for the analysis. In later chapters, we extend our discussion of additional types of data and their collection and creation in GIS formats. When we say “creating data,” we don’t just mean making it up. Because GIS technology is fairly new to some disciplines, data may exist in hard-copy formats (paper maps, field notes, etc.) but not necessarily in a computerized, GIS-compatible format. For these reasons, the researcher may have to be persistent and a bit creative when seeking out potential sources of data. It is not uncommon to find multiple sources of what appear to be the same data, so it is essential to review and evaluate each prospective dataset before settling on the perfect source of information for your particular study.

Of course, not all data you may need will exist, so it is likely you could be collecting your own data for use in a GIS analysis. For many social scientists, data collection is one of the most enjoyable components of the research process. Why? This is the part of the research process in which researchers actively implement ideas that, until then, have only existed in their minds (and, ideally, during the two previous stages of the research process, have been committed to paper).

Data collection can come in a variety of forms. It may involve going into the field for face-to-face contact with the people in your study or examining in detail the secondary data. This can involve distributing and collecting surveys or traveling to a faraway location to conduct a case study. Data collection is part of the research process that motivated many of us to go into natural or social sciences in the first place, and the part we have always found to be fun.

One should begin the data collection process with a good understanding of (1) what type of data are necessary for testing the hypothesis, (2) an idea of where to find this information (agencies, corporations, universities, etc.), and (3) clearly identified geographic components that best fit within the study. In this technological age, and given security concerns, some organizations and agencies are somewhat guarded about sharing detailed geographic information. However, a wealth of free, preexisting geographic information is available from a variety of data providers, libraries, government agencies, Internet resources, and others. Where you go looking for information depends on which geographic features you are looking for. (See chapter 5 for a more detailed discussion of measurement and GIS.)