----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Thanks to everyone who sent me replies to my query (over 80!). Here is a summary of what I learned. AN INTERNET SURVEY OF COURSES AND TEXTS ON SPATIAL DATA ANALYSIS Marshall M.A. Feldman Associate Professor CPAD Working Paper 95-02 Graduate Curriculum in Community Planning and Area Development 204 Rodman Hall The University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881-0815 Phone: 401/792-5953 FAX: 401/792-4395 Internet: [log in to unmask] AN INTERNET SURVEY OF COURSES AND TEXTS ON SPATIAL DATA ANALYSIS On May 3, 1995 I queried several Internet lists and newsgroups about courses and textbooks for spatial data analysis. The query generated considerable interest, with over eighty replies within a week. This is a summary of those replies and is organized as follows: 1 The Original Query 1.1 Lists to Which Queries Were Sent 1.2 Text of the Original Query 2 Descriptions of Courses on the Subject 2.1 Courses Emphasizing Statistics 2.2 GIS-Based Courses 2.3 Courses Combining GIS and Statistics 2.4 Planning Methods Courses 2.5 Courses with Other Emphasis or Emphasis Unknown 3 Computer Software 3.1 Academic Atlas 3.2 ARC/INFO 3.3 ArcView2 3.4 Atlas GIS and Atlas Pro 3.5 Census Data 3.6 EpiInfo/EpiMap 3.7 Geo-EAS 1.2.1 3.8 GEOEAZ (Is this Geo-EAS?) 3.9 GEO-PACK 3.10 GeoQuery 3.11 GeoSim 3.12 GRASS 3.13 GS+ 3.14 GSLIB 3.15 IDRISI 3.16 Landview 3.17 MapInfo 3.18 MapViewer 3.19 Minitab for Windows 3.20 Pointstat 3.21 PMAP 3.22 PVWave 3.23 R programs 3.24 REGARD 3.25 Regional Analysis System (RAS) 3.26 S+ 3.27 SAS 3.28 SPACESTAT 3.29 SPANS 3.30 SPSS for Windows and Add-Ons 3.31 STAC 3.32 Statview 3.33 SURFER for Windows (Golden Software). 3.34 SYSTAT 3.35 USTAT - Jerry Schneider ([log in to unmask]) 3.36 Other 4 Miscellaneous Comments 4.1 On the Utility of Such A Course and How to Package It 4.2 On How The Course Fits into the Planning Curriculum 4.3 Other 5 Results of a WebCrawler Search 6 Texts on the Subject and References 6.1 General Comments 6.2 References 1 The Original Query 1.1 Lists to Which Queries Were Sent The query was posted to these lists: Bmdp-l: BMDP List Envst-l: Environmental Studies List ESRI-l: Environmental Systems Research Institute List Geograph: Geography List GIS-l: Geographic Information Systems List H-urban: Urban History List Maps-l: Map List Methods: Teaching Social Science Methods List Planet: Planning Educators List Regsc-l: Regional Science List S-news: S and S+ News SAS-l: SAS List SASPAC-l: SAS Public Access Consortium SPSSX-l: SPSSX List Stat-l: Statistics Consulting List Urban-l: Urban Planning Discussion List Urbgeog: Urban Geography List 1.2 Text of the Original Query I'm sorry about the cross-posting, but this is a fishing trip and I want to cast the net as widely as possible. If there is sufficient response, I'll summarize and re-post to the respective lists. Maybe this is even a FAQ on some lists. I am thinking about designing a course on spatial data analysis for planning students with an emphasis on social, economic, demographic, and perhaps some environmental data. Its relationship to spatial statistics would be roughly the same as a course on data analysis' relationship to aspatial statistics. In other words, there would be more emphasis on organizing and accessing data, simple exploratory and descriptive data analysis and presentation, plus some dose of more conventional topics in spatial statistics (e.g. spatial autocorrelation). The course would be offered primarily to second-semester graduate students in community planning who have had one introductory statistics course and a course on research methods. Since this might substitute for one of our current planning methods courses, it might also have to spend some time on things like population projections, census data, etc. Does anyone out there teach a course like this? Do any of you have ideas or suggestions about such a course? Two things of particular concern are textbooks and software. Can anyone suggest a textbook that would be appropriate? What about software with general purpose statistical capabilities and the ability to make decent, presentation-quality analytical maps? One of the things I've learned the hard way is that any software like this would have to be extremely user-friendly or else the software becomes the focus of the course. While bright, some of these students have minimal computer experience, and I can't imagine using an algorithmic package in this course: this rules out S+, SAS (even with ASSIST, SAS GRAPH is way too complicated), and ARC/INFO. Ideally, the software should be cheap and run on fairly basic PC's (but this may be wishful thinking). Please let me know what you think, and if there's sufficient response I'll summarize and post to this list. Thanks for your time. Well, there certainly was sufficient response. The subject appears to interest many people from diverse disciplines. Replies ranged from, "let me know what you find out" to "I've been doing this for several years." Some replies discussed fairly elementary approaches, others strongly advised that such a course could only be taught to students with several semesters of aspatial statistics under their belts. 2 Descriptions of Courses on the Subject 2.1 Courses Emphasizing Statistics 2.1.1 Lynn Rosentrater a graduate student in the Department of Geography, University of Oregon ([log in to unmask]) took a course called Geographic Data Analysis using Chapman and Monroe (1993) and Minitab for Windows. She also TA'd a course called Statistics for Social Scientists which uses SPSS and Norusis (1990). 2.1.2 Dartmouth College (Adrian Bailey) Megan Blake also recommends Dr. Adrian Bailey ([log in to unmask]) at Dartmouth who used spatial autocorrelation considerably and she believes has also has taught a statistical methods class like this. 2.1.3 Duke University Richard Smith taught a course in spatial statistics at Duke a couple years ago. It was a little more theoretical than what you have described, though most of the students were in an environmental science curriculum. You might want to contact him. I don't know his Cambridge e-mail address, but he still has one at UNC, which I believe he checks now and then: [log in to unmask] -- Patrick Crockett, [log in to unmask] 2.1.4 Edith Cowan University (Lyn Bloom, [log in to unmask]) I do run such a course (called MAT5104 Spatial Data Analysis) here at Edith Cowan University as part of our MSc (Mathematics and Planning) degree. At present I am using Upton & Fingleton (1985, vol. 1) covering most of the material in Chapters 1-4 with supplementary material on spatial EDA and geostatistics from Cressie (1991) and Isaaks and Srivastava (n.d.). Software is a problem but I have been using MINITAB 10 for Windows (with appropriate macros) and also the public domain Geostatistics package GEOEAS. The students also have access to IDRISI and MapInfo. Here is the course content: 1 Exploratory data analysis of spatial data. 2 The Identification of Pattern: alternative patterns, quadrat counts, distance methods, spatial mapping methods. 3 The Estimation of Spatial Intensity: quadrat methods, line transects, distance methods, areal methods. 4 Spatial Autocorrelation: randomization, Monte Carlo approach, normal approximation, join-count statistics, Moran's I statistic, Geary's c statistics, correlograms. 5 Inter-type Relations: bivariate point patterns, analysis using quadrats, analysis using transects, distance analysis, spatial rank correlation. 6. Spatial Prediction: triangulation, h-scatterplots, variograms, ordinary kriging. 2.1.5 University of Idaho (Scott Morris) The Geography Department at the University of Idaho offers a 300-level course called "spatial analysis." It is taught by Scott Morris and uses Clark and Hosking. The course is part of the geography core and has a 200-level statistics class as a prerequisite. The class goes through the glm with some emphasis on cluster and factor analysis. 2.1.6 Indiana University (Daniel Knudsen) Daniel Knudsen ([log in to unmask]) at Indiana University (Geography) teaches a similar course. I gather he uses Clark and Hosking as well as Hanushek and Jackson. 2.1.7 Iowa State (Noel Cressie) Noel Cressie teaches a course like this at Iowa State. He was visiting Ohio State and teaching a seminar on Spatial Statistics. The textbook written by him would be good for such a course. -- John P Lawrence. 2.1.8 Michigan State University (Bruce Wm. Pigozzi [log in to unmask]) I teach a course somewhat like what you describe (Quantitative Methods for Geographers and Planners). It attracts about 50-60 students each fall semester. Recent texts: Earickson and Harlin (1994), McGrew and Monroe (1993), and Clark and Hosking (1986). I've been most satisfied with Earickson and Harlin for the basic course (there's also a multivariate oriented second course) in a semester format. Bruce uses SYSTAT in this course. 2.1.9 North Carolina State, Raleigh (G. Peter Y. Clarke [log in to unmask] .za) In 1991 I spent a sabbatical at NC State, Raleigh in the Statistics Dept. I offered a "special" course on spatial statistics, comprising 1 lecture per week for 9 weeks plus labs. The audience was mostly post-grad and staff with a fair sprinkling of forestry students, so I couldn't make it too mathematical. Essentially, I covered mostly various forms of kriging and co-kriging. I was unable to find a suitable text, and made up my own notes. For labs I used GEO-EAS , which worked quite well. Subsequently, the course has been taught by Marcia Gumpertz ([log in to unmask]), and she has been using GSLIB in preference to GEO-EAS because the latter package fits in with the UNIX environment. Both GEO-EAS and GSLIB are free-ware. 2.1.10 UCLA (Cindy Fan) Eric Stein ([log in to unmask]) writes: While working on my doctoral degree in environmental science and engineering I took a course on spatial statistics ... in the Geography Department, but geared toward application of the methods to each student's personal data. The class covered descriptive as well as quantitative methods. Overall a pretty good class. The professor was Cindy Fan; maybe you could try contacting her for information on the course. I don't have an email address for her, but she can be reached at the UCLA Dept. of Geography, 1255 Bunch Hall, Los Angeles Ca 90024. 2.1.11 University of Iowa (Dale Zimmerman, [log in to unmask]) Dale Zimmerman, in Statistics, uses S+ when teaching spatial statistics and recommends Haining (1990) as a text. 2.1.12 University of Montreal (Universite de Montreal, Pierre Legendre, [log in to unmask]) I have been teaching a course on spatial statistics for ecologists for several years. I have also had the opportunity to give it (whole, or parts of) in various other countries, in French or in English (France, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Spain...). I will send you by paper mail the table of contents of the one I gave in Spain last fall. Hope you find some useful ideas in it. Clientele: Typically, graduate students in ecology, with some outliers coming from geography, engineering, etc. Textbooks: None at the moment. I agree with you that we should not use textbooks of spatial statistics written by statisticians for this type of teaching. So, I use a series of published papers -- many from my own lab -- as well as chapters of the book that I am in the process of writing (Numerical Ecology, 2nd English edition). I have a section on spatial autocorrelation; one on permutation testing; and I will have a whole fat chapter on spatial analysis (an embryo of it has already published in my 1984 book). Pierre also uses the R package and SURFER (see below) for software. 2.1.13 University of Rhode Island (Alan Humphrey, Management Science and Information Systems, [log in to unmask]) There is a new program for the PC/Windows that is suppose to be very easy to use. It constructs chloroplethic, dot, and column maps and also has an addmatcher included. The cost is about $400. I'm getting a demo and additional information that I would be happy to share with you. I have taught courses in the distant past that touch on spatial analysis and I'm sure we would have some marketing students here that would be most interested in such and offering. Keep in touch. 2.1.14 University of West Virginia (Luc Anselin) I have taught such a course several times (though not to community planning persons) and have a few suggestions: - if one wants to avoid a simple cookbook approach, more than a single stats course is needed as prerequisite; most of the spatial stats is actually more difficult than non-spatial stats - there is no software that does both mapping and graphics (in a "user friendly" way) and spatial stats. In fact, as far as I know there are no introductory spatial stats packages that do not involve substantial programming (a la S-Plus, for example). The closest to your need would be my Spacestat package (blurb below), but it probably requires more background. It is used in a teaching environment in a number of places, including Carnegie Mellon (in a Masters level class), San Diego State (geography upper level), Kentucky (upper level geography) and some other places. - my suggestion would be to use an "easy" mapping package like Arc/View in combination with a spatial data analysis package (such as SpaceStat), which would require some computer literacy, but not an inordinate amount. I am teaching a 4 week intensive summer course like that at ICPSR (University of Michigan) this summer. (Note: Information on the ICPSR course, including syllabus and reading list can be obtained at gopher://gopher.icpsr.umich.edu:70/11/Summer_Program). 2.2 GIS-Based Courses. 2.2.1 Michael Goodchild of NCGIA, UC at Santa Barbara teaches a "Spatial Analysis Using GIS" Seminar. 2.2.2 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Bill Huxhold [log in to unmask]) Teaches an introductory GIS course. He sent me his lab manual which involves exercises on data and spatial analysis representing typical local government functions (parcel data maintenance, geocoding address-based parcel data, building permit updating, census data, data aggregation on housing units and land use, residential density analysis, and flood plain overlay and reporting). The students first work with the data in a manual mode (he sent the Instructor's Version) and then move on to use PC Arc/Info to do the same work and more of the GIS functions. The manual is 250 pages in length and will be published by Oxford University Press next year. I looked at the manual, and it involves tasks typical of using GIS for database queries. For example, students are asked to identify all parcels in a flood plain by doing a spatial union. 2.3 Courses Combining GIS and Statistics 2.3.1 Art Getis ([log in to unmask]) Art Getis teaches a course to students who are mainly interested in GIS and environmental problems and updates it from year to year to incorporate the latest software (and thinking). His students are usually third semester graduates who have had a good course on statistics (multivariate analysis). He uses no textbook; the course readings are taken from about twenty books, several articles, and several software manuals. The main books are those by Haining (1990), Upton and Fingleton, Anselin, Boots and Getis, Cliff and Ord, Davis, and Cressie. Software: S+ (it can be used with novices if one outlines the basic idea of it), GIS software, GEOEAS (I will be using new software on Kriging this year), SpaceStat, and my own Fortran programs on spatial pattern analysis. 2.3.2 Clemson University (Shuming Bao, [log in to unmask]) In the Department of AG/Applied Economics, Professor Bao teaches "Introduction to GIS with ARC/INFO and Spatial Statistics" graduate students. Newly developed spatial statistics such as Getis and Ord's G statistics and Luc Anselin' LISA (Local Indicator of Spatial Association) can be found in papers. I doubt if there is good software. All those spatial statistics are associated with some kinds of spatial weight that can be derived from GIS. The new ARC/INFO (7.0) might have G statistics in GRID model. The software, SpaceStat, developed by Luc Anselin can calculate G and LISA, which is totally independent from GIS packages GIS packages. 2.3.3 Colorado State University Dr. Robin Reich teaches a course on Quantitative Spatial Analysis here at Colorado State University, Forest Department, College of Natural Resources. -- Rodney Howe ([log in to unmask]) 2.3.4 MIT (Joe Ferreira [log in to unmask]) Joe's TA (Alicia L Allen [log in to unmask]) Joe generally spends the first half of the term teaching the software and the second half doing group projects. This term we used Arc/Info and ArcView2. ArcView2 is enough of a user-friendly interface that it can be learned fairly quickly. The biggest problem is that you need to use something like Oracle to do querying and analysis, unfortunately this can become very expensive. The course is given 2nd term to grad students and it is also an undergraduate institute lab, so there are some undergrads in it. However, at MIT the undergrads tend to be fairly computer-proficient. Also, the graduate students take a short course that introduces them to GIS and relational databases during our January interim session, so they have some familiarity as well. This is a required course for all Masters of City Planning students at MIT. In previous years they used MapInfo, which is fairly simple for anyone to learn the basics of. Alicia once TA'ed a class of foreign planners and they picked it up without too much trouble. The text is mainly a reader of articles that Joe collected, as well as Huxley (no ref -- do you mean Huxhold?). 2.3.5 Ned Levine, UCLA and University of Hawaii ([log in to unmask] du) At UCLA, I taught a GIS course that had a strong analytical orientation; this semester, I'm teaching one at the University of Hawaii that is even more analytic. In addition, I'm writing a review of spatial statistics software for JAPA and have been looking at a lot of programs, texts, etc. My impression about integrating spatial statistics into GIS classes is that it would be fine for a second course, but not a first one. It takes almost an entire semester to make students feel comfortable with the current crop of spatial analytical routines in most GIS programs (ATLAS, ArcInfo); these routines are not really statistical, but are database-like operations (splitting, unioning, etc.). It would take another semester or so for students to learn enough about spatial statistics and to learn how to link the existing programs up with the GIS systems. Most of the spatial stats programs/routines are 'home-made' affairs and take a while to learn the idiosyncracies. Further, most do not hook up directly with a GIS but have to be run as a separate program. The one exception is the S+GisLink from StatSci, which hooks up S-Plus to ArcInfo; however, it only works for ArcINfo versions 6.1 or lower. We have 7.0 here and while I can run S-Plus commands from the Arc command line, I can't transfer data between the two. 2.4 Planning Methods Courses 2.4.1 Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Mike Multah teaches a similar course called CRP 315, Planning and Economic Analyses (or similar title). Call Mike at 805-541-3848. -- Barbara Sommer, [log in to unmask] edu 2.4.2 The University of Cincinnati (Johanna W. Looye, [log in to unmask]) I teach planning methods at the University of Cincinnati. One of my graduate-level courses ("Planning Methods") uses R. Klosterman's book Community Analysis and Planning Techniques, but it isn't very spatial. I teach population projection, cohort- projection, economic base analysis, index numbers, and other "tried and true" techniques. Klosterman and others have a book out that uses spreadsheets, Spreadsheet Models for Urban and Regional Analysis, but I have never used it in a classroom. I find it too "black-boxy" for my students, who would simply type in numbers and read output without necessarily understanding the calculations involved. I use the first book and have them construct their own spreadsheets. Another course I teach is called "Methods in Economic Development Planning" but I myself call it my "census course." I organize the quarter (10 weeks) around producing a regional compendium organized on Losch's population-location-activity model. The students work almost exclusively with spreadsheets to produce joint and conditional probability tables for a large variety of variables. They also learn to use index numbers, Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients, and other techniques. I, myself, provide them tables for the Cincinnati PMSA, by county, and then I divide the class into two teams who produce tables for two other MSAs in the US. The underlying theme is growth and decline (so this year we're doing Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill and Albany-Schenectady- Troy) and the presence is wealth and poverty in each. The take-home final asks students to write about how the two cities shape up compared to a few articles we read about the national/regional trends. I don't actually put anything on maps but it is geography based (county level), so (and I plan to talk to my colleagues who teach GIS) I think it's sort of pre-map analysis of data. A good book, though it works at the census tract level rather than the county level, is Dowell Myers' Analysis with Local Census Data. I also use Bendavid-Val's Regional and Local Economic Analysis for Practitioners which covers things like location quotients, distribution quotients, shift-share analysis. I have a feeling we could have a long conversation about this course, so I'll stop here and let you respond (if you wish). 2.4.2.1 My Comments I also teach straight planning methods courses like Johanna's, and I have used both Klosterman's Community Analysis and Planning Techniques and Meyer's Analysis with Local Census Data books. When using Klosterman, I also had the students make their own spreadsheets rather than give them canned ones. While I agree that canned spreadsheets are too black-boxy, I do not feel having students do their own spreadsheets adequately addresses the problem. For one thing, in our curriculum students who do not know spreadsheets have to learn them while they are taking this course. We always have some students who have not seen math since high school or a computer ever, and learning both quantitative methods and spreadsheets simultaneously proves "challenging" to put it mildly. Second, while Klosterman's book could be improved by being more flashy -- Myers is better here -- the techniques themselves leave much to be desired. Even if one knows spreadsheets, I'm not sure that mechanical application of codified methods, e.g. cohort population models, is any less of a black box for most students. Perhaps this is unique to our curriculum. Klosterman covers three bodies of methods: trend extrapolation, population projection, and economic base analysis. All three are used for predicting future patterns. Yet our students have no prior exposure to demographic theory or urban economics, so I don't think learning these techniques as "methods" overcomes the black-box syndrome. The same is true for the trend extrapolation techniques, which are purely mathematical. Without calculus and a whole lot of social theory and philosophy of science, it's hard to see how students can "properly" apply trend extrapolation techniques to social phenomena. For example, what does chaos theory do to our belief in the accuracy or appropriateness of projections? For this reason, I went over to Myers this past year. My goal is not to give students a bag of "tools," although many of them say that's exactly what they want, because I think such bags actually get in the way of understanding. Instead, I want to increase their "dexterity" with quantitative data so that, for example, students can face an unfamiliar situation in which quantitative analysis might be called for and do something intelligent. Myers seems better suited for this purpose since it largely covers several ad hoc analyses of issues that come up when dealing with census data. Yet students seem unsettled by this, believing they will not know what to do when they get a job. To draw an analogy with art, they seem to want to know the rules for drawing portraits or landscapes rather than how to be artists. Although I do not teach a course on methods in economic development planning, I have thought a good deal about such a course, and I do teach economic development planning. I have sometimes used Bendavid-Val's book, but if I were to teach this course I would put more emphasis on the analysis of local taxes. Here again, I think there are serious problems teaching "methods" divorced from theory. This, of course, betrays my methodological and theoretical dispositions. Methodologically, I am inclined towards post-positivist theoretical realism, which rejects the notion that there is a single "scientific method" divorced from specific contexts. In this view, all data and methods are "theory laden," so teaching methods divorced from theory is basically a subtle form of dogma. Theoretically, I largely reject neoclassical approaches to economics and liberal approaches to economic development policy or understanding the state. Instead, I am most comfortable with the "regulation approach" as a way of understanding these phenomena. So, while I teach and even sometimes use things like location quotients or economic base analysis, I am quick to point out to students that I think they're often pretty silly tools. As an example, I point out how off- base these techniques would have been had we applied them in the 1940's to what we now call Silicon Valley: they do not do a good job of either predicting or explaining what happened. Needless to say, students find this disquieting since they wonder why they had to go to the trouble learning the techniques and what to make of their "bag of tools." Johanna is right. This is the basis for a MUCH larger discussion. Maybe at ACSP? 2.4.3 Tufts University According to Melissa Twining Davis ([log in to unmask]) the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy offers Quantitative Reasoning for Policy and Planning. The course description reads: Range of methodologies and approaches involved in the analysis and interpretation of quantitative data. Emphasis on practical and decision-making aspects of quantitative methodologies rather than research aspects. Descriptive univariate statistics, the interpretation of multivariate models, and a review of commonly used methods in decision analysis. Application to problems of program evaluation and planning. Introduction to and use of microcomputer and mainframe computer in decision making. 2.4.3.1 My Comment What differentiates the "practical and decision-making aspects" of any methodology from the "ideological and non-critical" aspects? In 1617 Martin Luther posted a list of philosophical theses on the door to a church, and this is widely regarded as marking the beginning of the Reformation. Since it changed the world far more than most land use plans, I would say it was very "practical," but I don't know how one could just look at the substantive content of Luthor's posting and make this judgement. 2.4.4 Virginia Tech I've been teaching one for about ten years and would be happy to share any materials if you like. The core of the course has been statistics, but I also spent time on forecast methods, some spatial analysis, and presentation graphics. We are changing aspects of our methods sequence next year so it will be somewhat different next year. -- Jim Bohland, ([log in to unmask]) 2.5 Courses with Other Emphasis or Emphasis Unknown 2.5.1 Hunter College Paul Wood ([log in to unmask]) writes: A number of professors teach a whole host of courses related to Spatial Data Analysis at Hunter College--CUNY in the Dept. of Geology and Geography. The Department has a Spatial Analysis Laboratory with some very nice hardware (Sparc Sun Stations) and lots of software. Jeff Osleeb--used to be Chair of the Dept.-- has tried for years to put together a PhD program in Environmental Science with an emphasis in GIS and modeling. Names include: Dr. Jeff Osleeb--Spatial Analysis, Transportation Modeling Dr. Sean Ahern--GIS Tom Walter--Director of the Spatial Analysis Lab Hunter College Dept. of Geo. & Geog. North Bldg, Rm 1006. 695 Park Ave. NY, NY 10021 (212) 772-5265 Tony Grande is the Dept. Secry. 2.5.2 Ohio State Gail Gill <[log in to unmask]> writes: Yes, it (the course) has been taught at Ohio State University, by Dr. Joe Verducci. I don't remember his e -mail, but Dr. Saul Blumenthal (who also teaches there) might be able to give it to you. His address is [log in to unmask] 2.5.3 University of Maine Kate Beard at the University of Maine is teaching a course with the same-ish title this next fall. You might want to talk to her. Her e-mail is [log in to unmask] -- Jeff Hepinstall ([log in to unmask]) 3 Computer Software 3.1 Academic Atlas Recently I acquired a program called Analytic Atlas which does thematic maps with colors or 3-D wire frames, cross-plots of variables, etc.. It is extremely easy to use, though not terribly powerful. It comes with a companion program, AAMaker which allows users to construct maps from scratch, from PCX files and download boundaries and data from Tiger files. This component is a little more complex, but manageable. The neat thing is that the whole package is public domain and fits on one 720k diskette. I may be presenting it at ACSP this fall, but sending me a disk gets anyone a copy now. I like the idea of being able to turn over data by census tract or block or county to decision makers along with the analytic software so that they can generate their own analyses, though I haven't tried it in practice. (JIM FISHER: [log in to unmask]) 3.2 ARC/INFO 3.2.1 Gary M. Greenberg ([log in to unmask]) During my Master of Arts in Urban & Regional Planning education, I took quant. methods, and 3 GIS courses. UF's URP has a fine research facility called the GeoPlan Center, wherein Arc/Info is taught using RS6000 Workstations. Drs. John Alexander and Paul Zwick are the Director and Co-director of GeoPlan. They can be contacted at 904-392-0997. The projects we worked on are real world, such as modelling facility siting using relevant data <population statistics, pop. projections, permit approvals, info garnered from planning documents, property appraisers' data, and the like>. Don't rule out Arc/Info! It is a dominant GIS force, and it's not that tough to grasp. I was a computer neophyte when I started my Masters!!! Now, i m a prgmr ;-) Small GIS tools don't really suffice in a planner's toolkit. The issues require a tool which will be able to handle whatever you throw it, and that means being able to create a model on top of the standard framework: which is why tools like Arc/Info and Intergraph are dominators. If the students won't learn to manage the more complex tools <SAS, Splus, whatever> then they won't be prime candidates in the search to implement what they've learned, provided they can communicate well. 3.2.2 [log in to unmask] Avoid all ESRI products, no matter what they tell you in the brochures, these are for the technicians. Even the "user friendly" ones are hard work. 3.3 ArcView2 From [log in to unmask] at the University of North Carolina: I have been hearing wonderful things about ArcView2 from our City & Regional Planning Dept - they say this product does in 10-15 minutes what it takes a student to do in several hours using ArcInfo. Sounds so good we are going to get a copy this summer for our lab. I know they have educational pricing, but I don't know what it is. 3.4 Atlas GIS and Atlas Pro 3.4.1 Clinton J. Andrews ([log in to unmask])The projects we worked on are real world, such as Teaches the spatial analysis component of the Woodrow Wilson School's methods course modelling facility siting using relevant data <population statistics, using Atlas GIS (Strategic Mapping, tel 408-970-9600), which is much more user friendly than ArcInfo,pop. projections, permit approvals, info garnered from planning documents, and runs on our networked PCs (486's). The tutorial comes with some good data sets and property appraisers' data, and the like>. I've added other New Jersey-specific ones for their problem sets. The MPA students seem to require about 8 hours of hands-on time to become comfortable with the program, after which the fun stuff can begin.Drs. John Alexander and Paul Zwick are the Director and Co-director of GeoPlan. They can be contacted at 904-392-0997. 3.4.2 John Cook ([log in to unmask]) AtlasPro could be pretty easy to run on not-so-state-of-the-art desktop machines, and it can do some basic analytical stuff. Atlas GIS is now much more affordable, and the Windows version is pretty user friendly. It has even greater analytical capability. 3.4.3 Barbara Sommer, [log in to unmask] ATLAS GIS is easier than ARC/INFO, but still may be too much. Don't know about presentation quality. 3.4.4 [log in to unmask] Avoid commercial packages like Atlas GIS and MapInfo. While these are "sexy", and produce good output, they tend, like many commercial products, to deal with theoretical problems by ignoring them. If the system goes "bong" and some stuff lights up, you've probably just skipped over a major problem of auto-correlation or made a totally unjustifiable extrapolation. 3.5 Census Data John Cook ([log in to unmask]) says the Bureau of the Census is offering a pretty nice county-level package on CD-ROM, if that is a possibility. Otherwise there are the standard things you can get from them in hard copy, and some in .WK1 spreadsheet format. 3.6 EpiInfo/EpiMap A more sophisticated thematic mapping program can be downloaded from CDC (FTP) which pairs EpiInfo (DB and Stat) and EpiMap (thematic mapping). I haven't had time to explore these, but hope to present them as well at ACSP. -- Jim Fisher [log in to unmask] wright.edu). A cheap and simple solution for mapping developed by the WHO. It is completely free and easy to use, and self explaining. I use it myself for simple census data, and I love it!. The program can read Dbase data files or can be linked to a data manipulation program (EpiInfo), also by the WHO. You can download EpiMap from most SIMTEL-sites, usually in the /pub/msdos/mapping directory or alike. -- Henk Vos ([log in to unmask]) 3.7 Geo-EAS 1.2.1 Contact: Evan Englund U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-3478 According to Hsiu-Hua Liao ([log in to unmask]), EPA no longer distributes it. He offered to make a copy. It is PC base, and requires 3 HD disks. Marion Shaw ([log in to unmask]) says, "personally, I would stay away from that one because it's extremely dated, methodologically. You may have difficulties finding software written for your applications and may have to translate concepts. 3.8 GEOEAZ (Is this Geo-EAS?) I use GEOEAZ, an atrociously unfriendly program, for analyzing spatial variograms and for mixed model kriging which cannot be handled by SURFER. -- Julian Goulet [log in to unmask] 3.9 GEO-PACK A geostatistical package developed at the EPA's laboratory in Ada, Oklahoma, includes capabilities for disjunctive kriging and semi-automatic variogram modeling. Contact: David M. Walters U.S.EPA Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory Ada, Oklahoma 74820 According to Hsiu-Hua Liao ([log in to unmask]) this is PC based and free. You need to send 2 pre-formatted, high density, 3.5" diskettes. 3.10 GeoQuery Clinton Andrews ([log in to unmask]) likes this really user-friendly program (Geoquery Corp, tel 708-357-0535) on the Mac platform. It does a variety of spatial analysis tricks (buffers, aggregations, etc.) but for a limited set of applications. Its primary target is sales managers for businesses, so planning applications have to be shoehorned in. But it's the easiest to use program he's come across that still offers analytical features. Students can be productive in less than an hour. He marries it to a wonderful stats program for exploratory data analysis called DataDesk (Data Description, tel 607-257-1000) using the publish-subscribe feature of the Mac OS. 3.11 GeoSim From Ted Lyman, [log in to unmask] You might want to look into software called GeoSim developed at Virginia Tech by Departments of Computer Science and Geography. Several modules are available in formats for DOS, Mac, Dec and Sparc. Try [log in to unmask] 3.12 GRASS I worked a little with the versions of GRASS but of course they are very demanding in terms of hardware and would be difficult for students to master initially. -- Larry Clowers, Department of Criminology, Sociology, Social Work, & Geography, Arkansas State University ([log in to unmask]) 3.13 GS+ Jim Felley [log in to unmask] suggests this: FROM: Gamma Design, Inc. Box 201 457 East Bridge St. Plainwell, MI 49080 Phone: (616) 685-9011 FAX: (616) 685-2345 Semivariograms, spatial autocorrelation, kriging Operating systems: DOS 3.14 GSLIB A Unix package. Used at NC State, Raleigh. 3.15 IDRISI 3.15.1 Availability IDRISI Graduate School of Geography Clark University 950 Main St. Worcester, MA 01610 3.15.2 Description Includes modules for autocorrelation analysis and trend surface analysis. 3.15.3 Comments Does a lot of straightforward spatial statistics like autocorrelation and others and is entirely menu-driven. The tutorials can get you up and running fairly quickly. For simple things, it is a lot easier to learn than Arc\Info. It is fairly cheap and can run on most PCs in a DOS environment. The program does have its limitations, but it might be the best you can find. -- Alexander C Vias I like this package and they give educational discounts. It's cheap (<$200, I think) and recently came out with a Windows version. -- Jim Felley <[log in to unmask]> The handiest systems I am aware of are produced by people working in education. IDRISI is an excellent PC based raster system, now available for a Windows platform which does a whole range of good things using remotely sensed images. From what I hear the latest version is jazzed up with all sorts of handy extras like a "vectorize" command and a pretty handy digitizing package. Better yet, the whole thing only costs about $300. No I don't get a commission on them. -- [log in to unmask] 3.16 Landview Robbin R. Hough ([log in to unmask]) writes, I have found that most of the major GIS systems are beyond the bounds of single term courses in another subject, but I am now working with the version of LANDVIEW which comes with the newly released county statistics package from the Bureau of the Census. It is a very well conceived package and may be the answer to courses like you are contemplating. 3.17 MapInfo Fairly easy to learn but it also needs someone who is proficient with spatial analysis and mapping to do the support work and data preparation. -- Alicia L Allen [log in to unmask] Avoid. See comment under Atlas GIS, above. -- [log in to unmask] 3.18 MapViewer The Dept of Geography at London Guildhall University uses this package. Etienne BRESCH ([log in to unmask]) says, it "gives good enough results." 3.19 Minitab for Windows The Dept of Geography at London Guildhall University uses this package. Etienne BRESCH ([log in to unmask]) says the advantage is cheap licensing and hardware. Lyn Bloom also uses it for Spatial Data Analysis. 3.20 Pointstat Net Levine has a program called 'pointstat' which takes x-y coordinate data and constructs a number of indices of the spatial distribution (mean center, standard distance deviation, standard deviational ellipse, k-nearest neighbors, Moran's I, and several distance matrices - using spherical geometry). He's going to put this program out on the Internet in about a month or so. Contact Ned at [log in to unmask] 3.21 PMAP I sometimes use PMAP for just the kind of thing you want to do, that is map algebra on maps whose cells are categories. (Shortest path downhill, cost based distance, etc etc). It has poor presentation results, though can handle color patches on screen. I have written SPSS macros to move data between these several packages (the others are SURFER, GEOEAZ, and SPSS for Windows -- MF). PMAP comes in a student version. Its data could be passed in and out of SAS. Character symbols on a printer are its easiest output. However, it does no spatial statistics. It does do spatially weighted cross tabulation stuff. -- Julian Goulet, [log in to unmask] 3.22 PVWave Karsten Self ([log in to unmask]) suggests PVWave - data visualization software for Unix workstations - as a potential source of info and a white-hot demo package (you supply the workstation). PVWave is produced by someone somewhere in Colorado. Can't get more specific than that -- you might find them by asking SAS-L. 3.23 R Programs 3.23.1 Description Does univariate spatial autocorrelograms; simple and partial Mantel tests; multivariate correlograms; clustering with space and time contiguity constraint; connection networks; contingency periodogram, chronological clustering; spatial autocorrelation, geographically constrained ANOVA. 3.23.2 Platforms Currently runs on MacIntosh, IBM mainframe, MacIntosh, VAX. According to Pierre Legendre, its author, a Windows version should be available by the end of the summer, with a nice user's interface. 3.23.3 Obtaining Pierre Legendre Departement de Sciences biologiques Universite de Montreal C.P. 6128, Succursale A Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3J7 E-mail: 3771 at UMTLVT FAX: (514) 343-2293 3.23.4 Comments It's very friendly to use and has folders and routines designed for teaching. Legendre has been teaching a course on spatial analysis for undergraduate students for several years. - - Miquel Angel Rodriguez, Universitat de Barcelona, [log in to unmask] 3.24 REGARD (from Antony Unwin -- [log in to unmask]) Together with Graham Wills and John Haslett I developed the REGARD software package in Dublin and work on it has moved with me to Augsburg. REGARD is specifically designed for exploring spatial data sets with interactive graphic tools and is particularly effective for collaborating with users. I have run short courses using REGARD which have worked well because we encouraged people to bring their own data sets. Since REGARD only runs on Macs and is research software (i.e. we have a nice manual and the package is robust but it is not shrink-wrapped) this may not help you a lot, but I shall be presenting a paper at the Interfaces conference in Pittsburgh including a live demonstration of applying the package. 3.25 Regional Analysis System (RAS) The program we use in our class is RAS (Regional Analysis System) developed by ourselves, which is integrated with ARC/INFO and has the capabilities of defining spatial weight matrices, calculating Moran I, G and LISA and graphic analysis. It is on the Sun Station instead of PC. We have a paper on RAS and some applications of spatial statistics Bao (1995) in which you may find some reference about Getis and Anselin's papers. (From Shuming Bao, [log in to unmask]). 3.26 S+ See Art Getis' comment above. S+ is flexible and can do maps. It does help to have some understanding of mathematics used in statistics since its data structures correspond to them quite closely. I agree with you that S+ is too difficult (or too intimidating) for many (incl. me). -- Thurman Wenzl, [log in to unmask] 3.27 SAS 3.27.1 Pro Andy Eppard Barnett ([log in to unmask]) writes: From a 'student' viewpoint, I would recommend that a sufficiently powerful package (like SAS) be used, especially one that is used widely enough to help in obtaining a job. It is true that too much time could be spent on technical details like how to produce a map, but could this not be delegated to a syllabus, appendix, or user manual that even the students themselves added to? Just a series of 'canned procs' to do certain tasks, like producing a map. There is plenty of documentation by/for SAS on this kind of thing already, so much that finding it is more the problem than not. If anything, I think the biggest factor with SAS is cost, but universities get a much reduced cost for a license than commercial users. Finally, if computer science itself presents a technical problem, there are a number of good introductory texts on computers, O/S's, etc. that might help. It has been a long time since I was a student, but a book that I picked up recently at a used store that I like is "System Architecture: Software and Hardware Concepts", by Leigh and Ali, 1988. It would be a good, general, relatively complete reference for non-computer science students to use as an intro to computing. There are plenty of diagrams, and the text is very easy to read. Perhaps it would be good to list as a reference in a syllabus, or to place in a reserve room somewhere. 3.27.2 Con David Fosdecki writes, "we struggled through sas with weekly project exercises. I abandoned it midway through the semester and used SPSS for windows." 3.28 SPACESTAT 3.28.1 Overview A software program for the analysis of spatial data, developed by Luc Anselin is available from the Regional Research Institute at West Virginia University. The current version is 1.50 (latest revision 9/8/94). 3.28.2 Current Capabilities - data manipulation utilities (moving data from ascii files into the format used by GAUSS - SpaceStat is compiled in GAUSS) - spatial weights utilities: the construction, standardization, manipulation of spatial weights matrices, for irregular and regular lattices, computations of roots and other characteristics of the weights matrix; distance-based weights matrices (including great circle distance) - descriptive statistics: mean, variance, standard deviation, quartiles, interquartile distance, third and fourth moment, test for normality, correlation coefficients - join count statistics for spatial autocorrelation - Moran's I for spatial autocorrelation: normal, randomization and permutation distributions, correlogram, Moran scatterplot, local Moran (Moran LISA) - Geary's c for spatial autocorrelation: normal, randomization and permutation distributions, correlogram - Getis-Ord G and Gi statistics for local spatial autocorrelation - Hubert-Golledge QAP statistics (implemented for generic case, as well as for Moran, Geary and absolute differences) - Wartenberg multivariate spatial autocorrelation - Least squares regression with diagnostics for spatial dependence (including Moran's I, Lagrange Multiplier tests, Kelejian-Robinson test) - robust least squares regression (Jackknife) - maximum likelihood estimation of regression models with spatial autoregressive errors and spatial autoregressive dependent variable (with diagnostics) - GMM estimation of models with spatial autoregressive dependent variable - bootstrap estimation of models with spatial autoregressive dependent variable - two-step and ML estimation of heteroskedastic models (groupwise heteroskedasticity, random coefficients) 3.28.3 System Requirements The current version of SpaceStat is written in GAUSS and is distributed with a GAUSS Runtime Module (version of GAUSS currently used is 3.2.4). It requires a 386 or better PC with math coprocessor and at least 4 megs of RAM (the more the better). (GAUSS is a product of Aptech Systems, Inc. of Kent, Washington) 3.:\U Updates Version 2.0 of SpaceStat is expected to be ready in summer 1995. Current users will be able to obtain a low-cost upgrade. The new version will include the capacity to handle large data sets (several thousands of observations) for most descriptive statistics and diagnostics (not ML estimation). 3.28.5 Pricing (NOTE: SpaceStat is no longer distributed by NCGIA Santa Barbara, prices are effective August 1, 1994, and subject to change without notice - prices advertized in the NCGIA Brochure will be honored until September 1, 1994, for all orders forwarded by NCGIA) Current prices are for PC version only. Single user (includes Gauss Runtime module, manual/tutorial and sample data sets): - academic: $250 - government: $300 - private sector: $500 Multiple Licenses: - academic: site license $1,500 - includes one master copy of SpaceStat, master copy of manual and two bound copies and Gauss Runtime modules (one disk for each installed copy - specify number needed) - others: contact for information Tutorial only: $45 per copy Update to Version 1.50, for registered users: $25 (includes Revision Notes and new Gauss Runtime Module - prepaid orders only, the original SpaceStat disk must be returned with order) All prices include U.S. Post surface mailing. Non U.S. orders, add $10 for airmail. Ask about express rates. All payment in U.S. dollars only - pre-payment preferred and required for non-US orders. For ordering and other information contact: Luc Anselin Regional Research Institute West Virginia University 511 North High Street P.O. Box 6825 Morgantown, WV 26506-6825 e-mail: [log in to unmask] tel: (304) 293-8546 or 293-2896 fax: (304) 293-6699 3.28.6 Comments and Use Spacestat might not be user-friendly enough for the proposed class, but it is powerful. -- Marlon Boarnet, UC-Irvine, [log in to unmask] A very good spatial statistics program that does extremely sophisticated analysis and can be linked up to IDRISI or ARC\Info. However, it may be too advanced for what you want. -- Alexander C Vias One of the best programs. Calculates various statistics based on areal or zonal distributions. The program can calculate measures of spatial autocorrelation (Moran' I, Geary's C), local indicators of spatial association (LISA), 'classical' multivariate regression, trend surface analysis, and spatial lag regression. The latter is one of Anselin's theoretical developments and allows the incorporation of a spatial proximity variable (which he calls a 'spatial lag') into a regression model; he estimates the model using maximum likelihoods. The program has its idiosyncracies, but is very, very powerful. -- Ned Levine. 3.29 SPANS FROM: TYDAC Technologies Corp. 1655 N. Ft. Myer Dr., 3rd Floor Arlington, VA 22209 Includes a language allowing user to create analytical routines. Some spatial analysis implicit in modules (e.g., some modules return a value of Moran's I). Expensive!! -- Jim Felley <[log in to unmask]> 3.30 SPSS for Windows and Add-Ons David Fosdecki suggests SPSS for Windows ($149, student ver.) with Mapinfo($259, educ.) and the map procedure (a $50, mapbasic app to connect spss/mapinfo) option along with Norusis. The map procedure adds a menu option allowing SPSS to send data to mapinfo and vice versa in mapinfo. Data sent to mapinfo become a table (mapinfo slang for unmapped layer) which then can be viewed through thematic map. I've used it in geodemographic or lifestyle cluster and factor analysis. Regression residual spatial mapping. It's slick and the system is affordable to students. <[log in to unmask]> 3.31 STAC Ned Levine says the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority has produced a simple program called STAC (spatial & temporal analysis of crime) which they distribute to police departments throughout the country. The program calculates mean centers, standard deviational ellipses, and 'hot spots' given a set of x-y coordinates. 3.32 Statview "A nice, easy stats program for the mac." It makes graphs and charts easily. There may be a IBM version. 3.33 SURFER for Windows (Golden Software). An outstanding gridding and display package. However, you are more interested, I presume, in choropleth (sp?) maps. [Not really, I'd like graduated point symbol maps much more). SURFER does not handle those very well. It can, but it is not as user friendly as contour maps. -- Julian Goulet ([log in to unmask]). A likely candidate on the PC for mapping. -- Pierre Legendre ([log in to unmask] .ca) 3.34 SYSTAT I am fairly convinced that SYSTAT offers the best value in classroom software. It's available for Windows but there is still (I think) a DOS version. The Windows version is menu driven (there's actually an internal version of BASIC for those who want to incorporate non-standard operations. SYSTAT is now owned by SPSS but is cheaper and just as powerful. It is more analysis oriented than SPSS, that is SPSS offers more in the way of data presentation, SYSTAT is good for data analysis. It's a bit of a toss-up though as SPSS is probably more common in the work place. Bruce Wm. Pigozzi ([log in to unmask]) John Cook ([log in to unmask]) says SYSTAT had a very inexpensive intro version called MYSTAT which he used to get free at Carolina (may have been part of a site license). MYSTAT was very basic descriptive procs, some nonparametric correlation things, and basic regression. The editor was not the greatest, but adequate. 3.35 USTAT - Jerry Schneider ([log in to unmask]) A DOS program that calculates about 25 spatial statistics and also produces a set of charts and maps that can be used to see those measures that can be plotted. Requires data, by small area and time point, and a boundary file as input. It is about as simple as it could be. The hard part is getting the data cleaned up (i.e. adjusting for zonal changes over time, etc.) and interpreting the results. I use it to measure spatial change over time (magnitude and shape). The charts/maps are produced as a DXF file which then can be pulled up in AutoCAD for editing and plotting, in color or B/W. I have been using it in the classroom for some time now. 3.36 Other 3.36.1 John Cook ([log in to unmask]) thinks Lotus also recently released some kind of basic mapping package, and Harvard Graphics had their Harvard Geographics for a while. 3.36.2 Robbin R. Hough ([log in to unmask]) suggests using Microsoft Office suite especially Excell and Access as the basic tools for data exploration. 3.36.3 Works for windows provide a series of wordprocessing/spreadsheets/graphics sub-packages that are very user-friendly and 'student-proof', ie difficult to mess up! For stats and analysis, we use Minitab for Windows and Excel. The advantage of those packages is that the license works out quite cheap, but hardware or machines don't and in the end it takes a concerted effort within the department to want to develop something the students will benefit from (those famous transferable skills). -- [log in to unmask] 3.36.4 Geoff Selig ([log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]) said there was a mention of a WWW site that had several programs that did exactly what you want in the edstat list a while back. I will try to track down the URL for the site. 3.36.5 [log in to unmask] I would recommend a system produced by the Geography Department at Sheffield University (I think). It walks the user through some carefully contrived exercises in ArcInfo and IDRISI. However, none of ESRI's killer command structures are required, so its a lot easier to work with. The contact I have for that is [log in to unmask] AC.UK (who is really Ms. J. Burgan, tel 0742-725-248. 4 Miscellaneous Comments 4.1 On the Utility of Such A Course and How to Package It 4.1.1 [log in to unmask] There are several points worthy of comment in your posting. First and foremost, you need to talk to some geographers! All courses that involve a significant software component require some computer skills. Unfortunately the majority of spatial analytical howlers result from a failure to understand either a) the nature of spatial data or b) the techniques used to process those data and produce graphic images from them. 4.1.2 Thurman Wenzl, Natl Inst for Occ Saf and Heal, [log in to unmask] I think there is wide interest in what you come up with; do post a summary. I've seen an occasional ref in environ monitoring stats which might apply to your question/plan, but I can't think of the author right now; Perhaps the only solution is a 2 step process: a first course with only concepts, setting up the problems, and interpretation of outputs; then (in a follow-up course), some discussion and use of software and how to do the analyses - for a subset of the students. 4.1.3 Etienne Bresch, Dept of Geography, London Guildhall University, [log in to unmask] A couple of years ago I had a similar problem, ie about the design of a new series of courses to be planned as a three-year cycle, or basically following our degree progression. We do teach some of the material you are mentioning in your message, but it is more directly related to cartography. One thing I have learned is that students seem to be more confident with the computers only once they know exactly what it is they are supposed to be doing. Just to give you an example, if they can work out what a standard deviation is and how and why you calculate it (yes, it takes us back to basics, with all those students with varied backgrounds), using a simple set of population density data of a small town so they can calculate everything by hand using a pocket calculator, then they waste much less time when it comes to do a similar exercise by computer. 4.1.4 Rich Winterfield ([log in to unmask]) I think that your proposal can provide a valuable resource for your students. I am a GIS Analyst working for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I received my MSP from UT, Knoxville in 1992 and went right into GIS work. I work primarily with Arc/Info. My initial thoughts are that over the long run, you might want fold a majority of this course into the Intro to Stats and Research Methods courses. Then you'd be able to have students use the skills in a capstone methods course. In the short term, I would not be so quick to dismiss some of the more sophisticated software products. While you are correct that they would have to be user friendly to avoid making the software the course, these products can all be customized to present only what you want them to. I believe that you could get some cheap/free assistance from some of the software companies that advertise their commitment to education, and from users in the world. Having personally experienced the problems associated with a weak statistical background when dealing with spatial data, I would consider offering my assistance in some programming in Arc/Info or ArcView to help customize these products to match your lesson plans. If you decide to go this route, and are looking for help, drop me a line, and we'll see if I can be of assistance. If not, keep going with your plans, the students need this information. 4.1.5 Pat Cabe, Dept of Psych, Pembroke State University ([log in to unmask] embroke.edu) This is a good idea, there are apparently people "out there" who are doing it/teaching it, it seems to have lots of applications (even outside the vaguely geographical realm you might have in mind), and I hope you'll seriously pursue it. 4.1.6 Paul Cote ([log in to unmask]) The course you describe sounds very worthwhile. And I don't have any personal experience of a course like this, but I would be interested in what you turn up, especially re. textbooks. I have a feeling there maybe some promising work going on at Rutgers, New Brunswick where Lyna Wiggins and Richard Brail are both working. 4.1.7 John Cook ([log in to unmask]) Your class sounds like it could be fun, and very useful for students. 4.1.8 Gary M. Greenberg ([log in to unmask]) There is a pretty brilliant guy in UF's geography dept. named Tim Fik who might offer great advice on making quant. methods really interesting to learn. He may be a useful contact as he had some Public Domain quant. tool that he bragged on <though I graduated before I could take the course which he was to use it for; maybe I'll do that for fun). Finally, make 'em work! Scare off the babies; grad school is no place to coddle the minds and hearts of tomorrow's workforce (but then I suspect you know that having challenged my thinking fairly rigorously one summer over the wire -- thanks for the backhanded complement, Gary. MF). 4.1.9 Antony Unwin ([log in to unmask]) Good luck! The aims of your course seem both sensible and practical, how easy they will be to achieve is another matter. I would like to hear how you get on. I have been interested in exploratory spatial data analysis (which could be an important part of your course) for a while because it seems to have real potential for application in comparison to many of the more mathematical approaches. Thus I find the book by Cressie valuable for telling me what progress has been made theoretically but I cannot imagine many of the models discussed bringing much insight for real data. You also mentioned spatial autocorrelation. The main reservation that I have there is that it is often assumed that it is the same across a whole data set. Local statistics are worth looking at (e.g. recent work by Getis and Ord or by Luc Anselin) but I always find the interactive graphical methods more powerful anyway because autocorrelation can only measure a very limiting type of spatial association and there can be so many different types. Some packages produce nice maps and claim to do statistics but as you will have gathered from the above I am not keen on static presentation graphics. Too often the beautifully drawn chloropleth maps turn out to be heavily dependent on the classification used and even the cleverest tricks of the cartographers can not reproduce the multivariate structures that are important (another hobby horse of mine: spatial data are inherently multivariate and a mixture of different data types recorded in irregular patterns, theoretical models posit single continuous variables recorded on a regular grid). In principle you could draw several maps and choose the best (which is what you in effect do with interactive graphics fast and flexibly) but the effort and the time make this impractical. Antony goes on to discuss his REGARD software. 4.1.9.1 My Comment I'm sorry I mentioned spatial autocorrelation. I usually introduce it in low-level courses as a warning how a little knowledge can be worse than no knowledge at all. However, in terms of the course I have in mind, I'm much more in agreement with Antony. Intuitive, interactive, exploratory tools seem much more appropriate for MCP students. 4.2 On How The Course Fits into the Planning Curriculum 4.2.1 Robert Lincoln, Michigan State University ([log in to unmask]) Glad to see that someone's taking this on directly. Here at MSU, we're talking about having a spatial analysis course or part thereof in our methods sequence and we're running into the same issues: noone's really done this for planning, so most of the course material out there is specialized for geographers, etc. In particular, noone seems to have put together data and analysis "kits" for the kinds of functions most useful to planners (though it may be that the new "First St." product that combines TIGER, ArcView 2 and a bunch of jurisdiction, tract, and block census variables will fill some of the bill. One thing you might consider: as I understand it, ESRI is making ArcView 1 freely available by FTP. Maybe the thing to do is to build the course around some standard maps and data sets that could be generated pretty easily with ArcInfo for PCs and the TIGER CDs, and then "teach" with the mapping software and the related flat-file databases. I wonder, though, what the real focus should be? Should we be teaching our students to map data better, e.g. getting them in the habit of geocoding everything and letting the software pretty much do the rest? Should we be spending a lot of time asking whether geographic variables like proximity should be analyzed along with other statistics (are urban and regional planners to do analysis of future land values around landfills based on historic trends?)? Should we be simply teaching them to think about physical and social phenomena more thoroughly by presenting and analyzing them on a geographical basis? I go back and forth on a lot of these questions, seeing long term possibilities for making planners more useful but wondering what skills are really useful now. So, I hope I've added one piece of useful information and a good question or two. Where are you going with your course? And, the ubiquitous question, what are other people out there doing? How about some working planners -- what skills (both conceptual and task oriented) do you wish that you had, or the planners working for you had, in this area? 4.2.2 Abhijit Bhahmachari ([log in to unmask]) It sounds like a real nice course, and I think, if offered, the course will surely help the planning students. But, for some reason, I thought that it might become a little too much for a semester long course. Instead, if you find a real good, user-friendly (very imp.) software, learning the software may be a course in itself. Once the students be come familiar with the software (mid semester) they may be asked to pick one of the topics from i) social, ii) environmental, iii) demography, etc., and do a semester project using the software, and available data from the selected topic. This will probably reduce data collection time. Since you mentioned that the course is being designed for a SECOND year (I did not, I said second-semester -- MF) student, I think, you may not want to spend more time on accessing data. Even if the data is supplied, decoding, analysis, and presentation of the supplied data using the software would be a nice course. -- Abhijit is a student here in our department (MF). 4.2.3 From an Anonymous Staff Member in the Santa Barbara Planning Department (thanks to Barbara Sommer, [log in to unmask]) There used to be several course at UC Santa Barbara in the Geography Department. The course should be "not too theoretical. Need practical, real world data sets/issues where students can enjoy thinking about viable hypotheses, not just manipulating data which are uninspiring. 4.3 Other 4.3.1 Rick Dalzell ([log in to unmask]) You should see all the stuff that the local high school teams are doing in the EarthVision Project on the EPA's Cray computer. Believe similar projects are going on around the country. Contact Mark Neal, Central High School, Bay City, MI 48708 (517-893-9541) or Dr. Ralph Coppola, Special Projects Director, S.V.S.U., University Center, MI 48710. 4.3.2 Larry Clowers ([log in to unmask]) I've been thinking along avenues similar to your spatial analysis course. I am hopeful of (using) ARC/View on a fast pentium. It seems to be easily learned and a lot of data is available in appropriate formats. I would like to know how your plans develop. 4.3.3 Karsten Self ([log in to unmask]) Working for industry and trying to dream up ideas for visualization, I'd be interested in receiving a summary of what you find. 4.3.4 Bill Westbrook ([log in to unmask]) I suggest you contact NASA at their Goddard Space Flight Center for textual materials and possibly the needed software. May I assume you are referring to Remote Sensing of Earth Resources? If so, you might contact the Office for Remote Sensing of Earth Resources at Pennsylvania State University. 4.3.4.1 My Comment No, I'm not at all interested in remote sensing of earth resources. 4.3.5 SPACE-L Marlon Boarnet ([log in to unmask]) suggests posting the question to the SPACE-L listserver (he thought that's the name). 5 Results of a WebCrawler Search Melvin Klassen ([log in to unmask]) was kind enough to forward the following results of a WebCrawler Search. <p>The query "spatial data analysis course" found 87 documents and returned 25: <p><tt>1000 </tt><a href="http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/DATASET_DOCS/dao_dataset.html" >DATA ASSIMILATION OFFICE 4D TIMESERIES MULTI-YEAR ANALY- SIS</a><br> <tt>0968 </tt><a href="http://eosdis.larc.nasa.gov:12000/dataset_documents/srb.html" >http://eosdis.larc.nasa.gov:12000/dataset_documents/srb.html</a><br> <tt>0829 </tt><a href="http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/DATASET_DOCS/tovs_dataset.html" >TOVS Pathfinder Path A Guide</a><br> <tt>0743 </tt><a href="http://www.blm.gov/gis/nsdi.html" >NSDI MetaData and WWW Mapping Sites</a><br> <tt>0735 </tt><a href="http://www.essex.ac.uk/social-science-methodology-school" >Social Science Methodology School Home Page</a><br> <tt>0681 </tt><a href="http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/giswww.html" >GIS WWW Resource List</a><br> <tt>0658 </tt><a href="http://www.esd.ornl.gov/esd-research-org.html" >Environmental Sciences Division Research Organization</a><br> <tt>0588 </tt><a href="ftp://ftp.csn.org/COGS/ores.txt" >ftp://ftp.csn.org/COGS/ores.txt</a><br> <tt>0585 </tt><a href="http://rigel.csuchico.edu/ores.html" >On-line Resources for Earth Scientists (ORES)</a><br> <tt>0554 </tt><a href="http://www.cast.uark.edu/d.cast/cast.html" >CAST Home Page</a><br> <tt>0541 </tt><a href="http://haleakala.jpl.nasa.gov/atmo.html" >ATBD for Surface Radiance and Reflectance</a><br> <tt>0533 </tt><a href="ftp://ftp.nwnet.net/user-docs/government/gumprecht-guide.txt" >ftp://ftp.nwnet.net/user-docs/government/gumprecht-guide.txt</a><br> <tt>0528 </tt><a href="ftp://geology.wisc.edu/pub/inqua/newltr-3.txt" >ftp://geology.wisc.edu/pub/inqua/newltr-3.txt</a><br> <tt>0487 </tt><a href="http://www.geog.nott.ac.uk/remote/faq-2.html" >http://www.geog.nott.ac.uk/remote/faq-2.html</a><br> <tt>0455 </tt><a href="ftp://fgdc.er.usgs.gov/gdc/Forum/Geodata.pgm.txt" >ftp://fgdc.er.usgs.gov/gdc/Forum/Geodata.pgm.txt</a><br> <tt>0440 </tt><a href="ftp://geology.wisc.edu/pub/inqua/newltr-5.txt" >ftp://geology.wisc.edu/pub/inqua/newltr-5.txt</a><br> <tt>0430 </tt><a href="http://newsroom.hitc.com/tmdb/Prot_did318.html" >Status Report</a><br> <tt>0424 </tt><a href="ftp://umd5.umd.edu/pub/vrtp/Jove/Articles/dsgbjsbb.txt" >ftp://umd5.umd.edu/pub/vrtp/Jove/Articles/dsgbjsbb.txt</a><br> <tt>0398 </tt><a href="http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/S" >StatLib---Software and extensions for the S (Splus) language</a><br> <tt>0380 </tt><a href="ftp://abraxas.adelphi.edu/gis/FAQ" >ftp://abraxas.adelphi.edu/gis/FAQ</a><br> <tt>0370 </tt><a href="http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/core_curriculum.html" >The NCGIA Core Curriculum</a><br> <tt>0357 </tt><a href="http://ncgia.umesve.maine.edu/tech.html" >NCGIA Technical Report List</a><br> <tt>0341 </tt><a href="http://cirrus.larc.nasa.gov/fire/ASDfire.html" >The First ISCCP Regional Experiment</a><br> <tt>0287 </tt><a href="http://www.ckm.ucsf.edu/Papers/SIGBIO-93" >Processing Cross-Sectional Image Data for Reconstruction of Human Developmental Anatomy from Museum Specimens.</a><br> <tt>0284 </tt><a href="gopher://gopher.towson.edu/00/ Guides%20to%20Information%20Resources/ Frequently%20Asked%20Question%20Lists%20%28FAQs%29/ File%20Compression%20part%202" >gopher://gopher.towson.edu/00/Guides%20to%20 Information%20Resources/Frequently%20Asked%20Question%20Lists%20%28FAQs%29/ File%20Compression%20part%202</a><br> <hr><p> 6 Texts on the Subject and References 6.1 General Comments 6.1.1 Ned Levine There is a huge gap between very elementary texts and mainstream spatial statistics texts; there is nothing intermediate which would be appropriate for planning and geography graduate students. At the simple level, the books by Ebdon and Hammond & McCullogh cover many elements of spatial statistics (e.g., Nearest Neighbor indices, descriptive indices, Moran's "I"). The next level, however, is very technical and requires a good math background. I would suggest books by Haining (1990), Cressie (1991) and Venables & Ripley which cover much of the modern developments in spatial statistics. Ripley (1980), while a classic, is very, very difficult to follow without a solid math/statistics background. 6.1.2 Jon Claerbout ([log in to unmask]) In Geophysics all our correlations are spatial (and temporal). Be assured that there are many specialized techniques. Please enjoy the free books below. Jon Claerbout: FREE BOOKS http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/prof 6.1.3 Etienne Bresch, [log in to unmask] I have noticed that a lot of students need to start from scratch, while others cruise more quickly. 6.1.4 Terry Gilhula, Dept. of Geog, Univ. of Tennessee and Metropolitan Planning Commission ([log in to unmask]) I have a brief recommendation for a cost-effective, simple computer software that is most appropriate for planning students, allowing, among numerous topics, population projections, economic base analysis, real estate investment analysis, and many other applications. The source of this "stuff" is Klosterman, Brail, and Bossard (1993). This includes a text and accompanying Lotus 1-2-3 based spreadsheets that are pre-programmed for the above mentioned applications. An accompanying text is Klosterman (1990) which provides the rationale behind the techniques in the spreadsheets. I have used the materials in school as a grad student, and professionally as a practicing planner. Perhaps Klosterman, et al should send me a royalty for plugging their work, but it really is pretty straightforward and useful material. I saw a catalog recently with this material advertised. Sells for about $40, software included. 6.2 References Anselin, Luc. c1988. Spatial econometrics: methods and models. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Bao, Shuming. 1995. Paper on RAS and applications of spatial statistics. Computer, Environment, and Urban Systems 19(1). Bampton. The Poet's Guide to ArcInfo. "A brilliant, humorous and insightful book that I am currently writing myself. -- [log in to unmask] Batty, Michael and Paul Longley. Fractal cities. Bendavid-Val, Avram. Regional and Local Economic Analysis for Practitioners. Borcard & Legendre. 1994. Article in Environmental and Ecological Statistics, n 1. Clark, William and Hosking. Statistical Methods for Geographers. Wiley. -- Clark is at UCLA. Megan Blake says it makes little reference to spatial autocorrelation. Alexander C Vias has heard good things about it. Cressie, Noel. c1991. Statistics for spatial data. New York: J. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-84336- -9 $90.00 (!!!!!) Chrisman, Nick. c1996. Geographic Information Analysis. Written to give an understanding of different 'GISs' in context - starts out with measurement and representation. Explains concepts of what operations and transformations are done in different GISs - (quite a bit of time on this - what goes on in GIS) - then last chapter discusses social and institutional context. (most examples given are in some context - very few 'black box' illustrations). I liked the strong conceptual organization (I'm a sucker for that sort of thing) - from measure- ment to social/institutional context. Nick's e-mail address is [log in to unmask] edu -- Tara Clapp ([log in to unmask]). Davis, John C. 1986. Statistics and data analysis in geology, 2nd ed. John Wiley. Deutsch, Clayton V. and Andre Journel. 1992. Geostatistical software library and user's guide". Oxford U. Press. -- Comes with Fortran code. Ebdon, David. ESRI. The ARC Macro Language Workbook. . Understanding GIS. Earickson and Harlin. 1994. Geographic measurement and quantitative analysis. Macmillan. -- I've been most satisfied with Earickson and Harlin for the basic course (there's also a multivariate oriented second course) in a semester format (compared to McGrew and Monroe or Clark and Hosking). -- Bruce Wm. Pigozzi Frank, Camparai and Formentini, ed. 1992. Theories and methods of spatio-temporal reasoning in geographic space. Springer Verlag. Garson and Biggs. Analytic Mapping and geographic databases. Sage. Golledge Reginald G. and John N. Rayner 1982. Proximity and Preference: Problems in the multidimensional analysis of large data sets. U. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. Golledge is at UC Santa Barbara and Rayner is at Ohio State. You might try to reach one of them. -- Harry Kitchen ([log in to unmask]) Griffith, Daniel A. and Carl G. Amrhein. n.d. Statistical analysis for geographers, with contributions by Joseph R. Desloges. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Hammond and McCullogh. Haining, Robert. 1990. Spatial data analysis in the social and environmental sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. -- More elementary than Cressie. Most of the examples come from the social sciences and economics (with some environmental data too). -- Dale Zimmerman (dzimmer@s- tat.uiowa.edu) Hanushek and Jackson. Statistical Methods for Social Scientists. -- I've used this book myself, and I can attest that it's excellent. However I would not use it as a first course in statistics, and for a second only with better students. Little discussion of spatial statistics or data analysis. Huxhold, William. Isaaks and Srivastava. An Introduction to Applied Geostatistics. Johnston, R.J. 1980. Multivariate statistical analysis in geography. Longman Scientific and Technical. Klosterman, Richard. 1990. Community Analysis and Planning Techniques. Klosterman, Richard, Richard K. Brail, and Earl Bossard. 1993. Spreadsheet Models for Urban and Regional Analysis. Lapointe & Legendre. 1994. Article in Applied Statistics, 43:237-257 McGrew, J. Chapman and Charles B. Monroe. 1993. An Introduction to Statistical Problem Solving in Geography. Wm. C. Brown Publishers. "The book has been a great resource as I design my analytical methods for my thesis" -- Lynn Rosentrater. Martin, David. Geographic Information Systems and their Socioeconomic Applications. "An excellent text" -- [log in to unmask] Matthews, H. and Foster, I. 1989. Geographical data sources, analysis and presentation. Oxford University Press. "It's fairly basic, but there are a lot of interesting exercises you can use directly. It has the huge advantage of being very cheap (about British # 8.50, which works out probably at US $ 2.00)." -- Etienne Bresch, [log in to unmask] Monmonier. Mark. How to Lie With Maps. "Has an interesting angle on how you can (purposely or innocently) skew data when performing spatial analysis." -- Randy Fusaro "The classic text" -- [log in to unmask] Myers, Dowell. Analysis with Local Census Data Norusis, Marija J. 1990. The SPSS Guide to Data Analysis. SPSS Inc. John Odland. Spatial autocorrelation. Sage. -- "A very nice treatment". Barbara Warner, [log in to unmask] Plane and Rogerson. The Geographical Analysis of Population, With Applications to Planning and Business. "A very useful text for teaching spatial data analysis ... from a planning and demographic perspective" -- Bruce Newbold, Geography, U. of Illinois. Ripley, 1980. Spatial statistics. Sage Publications series on Scientific Geography. "It is comprised of about 8 little books on issues such as transportation, population and urban spatial structure. Some of the books are more complex than others." -- Jim Fisher, ([log in to unmask]) "You might want to consider a couple of Sage books as supplements. See Garson and Biggs and Odland. -- Barbara Warner, Sociology, University of Kentucky ([log in to unmask]) Scholten, Henk J and Stillwell, John C.H. Geographical Information Systems For Urban And Regional Planning Kluwer Acad. Press. -- Very good reading to link GIS conceptually to modelling with quantitative data (Gary M. Greenberg ([log in to unmask]) Upton, G. and Fingleton, B. 1985. Spatial Data Analysis: By Example. Chichester: John Wiley. -- Most of the examples in this book come from biology/ecology (Dale Zimmerman, [log in to unmask]) Venerables and Ripley. Modern applied statistics for S-Plus. -- Ned Levine says, it has a chapter on spatial statistics which concentrates on both contour estimation and interpolation of three-dimensional surfaces. They have written some S-Plus routines which calculate these functions which, I believe, are in statlib. Walford, N. 1995. Geographical Data Analysis. J.Wiley & Sons. -- Covers very much the material you want. -- Etienne Bresch, [log in to unmask] .ac.uk Marsh Feldman Phone: 401/792-5953 Community Planning, 204 Rodman Hall FAX: 401/792-4395 The University of Rhode Island Internet: [log in to unmask] Kingston, RI 02881-0815 "Marginality confers legitimacy on one's contrariness."