lying with maps project

8/9/2019 Lying with Maps Project

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Lying

withMaps

GEOG 213

Leahy, Mackenzie


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Interpreting Monmonier: Lying with Maps (2005)

1. Lying with maps has become far more common with nintentiona! "eceit

a. #I$ often has "efa!t settings that ma%e mapma%ers who "on&t f!!y n"erstan"

cartographic princip!es be!ie'e they ha'e been sccessf! in creating a

%now!e"geab!e mapi. his tip is important becase it recognies persona! !imitation*by

recogniing persona! n"erstan"ing+ we can ac%now!e"ge that a map may

not be accrate

2. $ome !ies are na'oi"ab!e

a. , graphic map sca!e can be se" in !arge-sca!e maps becase the area is sma!!

enogh where a straight !ine as a "istance is not comp!ete!y inaccrate+ bt on a

sma!!-sca!e map+ the straight !ine of a graphic map sca!e ignores the cr'e or

proection of the earthb. $ymbo! sies mst be change" base" on map sca!e+ bt that a!ters the trth*

this is an na'oi"ab!e form of "eceit as a 1 point-!ine on a sma!! sca!e map co!"

!oo% !i%e a 5 point !ine in a !arge-sca!e map+ they mst be change" for c!arity

reasonsi. ,c%now!e"ging the art part of mapping is important*by n"erstan"ing

that some choices are se!ecti'e we !earn to assme that for c!arity some

things are presente" "ifferent!y

1. , map at 1:2/+000 's 1:250+000 wi!! ma%e the !ine sies an" !an"

featres !oo% mch "ifferent

. #roping can "istort how an a"ience interprets "ata great!y

a. eep "ata with the same 'a!es in the same groping*"on&t re!y on ea!

inter'a! becase it may sp!it "ata

b. 3hose a mi""!e gron" when it comes to categories an" c!asses to few may grop

!arge "ifferences in 'a!es whi!e too many may ma%e it har" to "istingish

"ifferent co!ors4sies on the map


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c. ate (intensity-measrab!e amont of a property) "ata wor% we!! with chorop!eth

"ar%er means more+ whi!e cont (magnit"e-sie) "ata reires more

meaningf! co"ing

". $tic% to as simp!e co!ore" chorop!eth map+ "on&t se wi"e!y 'arying hesi. 6on&t assme that the #I$ is accrate or creates the best c!ass gropings*

"eci"e for yorse!f what wi!! pro'i"e the a"ience with the most

meaningf! "ata

1. 3!ass gropings can ma%e "ata (ie: cr"e birth rates4state) appear

e7ceptiona!!y high if the !ower c!asses ha'e !itt!e states within

them or appear e7ceptiona!!y sprea" ot if there are too many

c!asses

/. 3t points an" co!or schemes can manip!ate two in"epen"ent sets of "ata to ma%e them

seem as thogh they re!ate

i. 6ifferent "ata sets that "o not re!ate to one another can easi!y be

manip!ate" into !oo%ing !i%e they "o

1. 8y ma%ing the co!or hes the same an" ptting a simi!ar amont of

attribtes in the same c!asses+ two maps*one abot ate of

9op!ation 3hange an" one abot et-Migration ate*can appear

to re!ate to one another

5. Map creators an" sers mst n"erstan" the !imitations an" simp!ifications an" the power

that the two ha'e to manip!ate "ata

I fin" that this re!ates great!y to what I am !earning in #I$. here are many times where I

be!ie'e that "ata in maps co!" re!ate to one another or the information being pro'i"e" by maps

are accrate+ bt with my !imite" %now!e"ge it is har" to "etermine how accrate a map is+

especia!!y one that I ha'e create". I now n"erstan" how easy it is to confse4manip!ate

someone who %nows nothing abot the cartographic process.


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;ne e7amp!e of a !ying map that rea!!y stc% ot for me was two chorop!eth maps of

the


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ha'e !imits an" f!aws an" that maps cannot be perfect+ bt they can be e7p!aine" as to

why they can&t be.

ip ? Limit the information yo show * It is not on!y important to recognie "ata an" persona!

!imitation+ bt it is a!so important to !imit the "ata se" in the map. oo mch

information can ma%e a map more nc!ear rather than a""ing to its n"erstan"ing.

ip $imp!e an" c!ear tit!es * it!es are essentia! an" there is no reason that the tit!es cannot

be simp!ifie" so that the maority of the a"ience can n"erstan". Map tit!es sho!"

e!iminate nnecessary wor"ing when possib!e.

ip @ Legen"s are genera!!y essentia! * Legen"s are the fon"ation of te!!ing a story proper!y.

Aithot a !egen" or some sort of "escription of what the map "oes+ the map is mere!y a

pictre with co!ore" symbo!s. 6ata cannot be n"erstoo" as re!ati'e or rea! an" e'en

thogh it is possib!e to interpret the map+ the interpretations wi!! ne'er be accrate.

ip B


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it is seen as an appetite stim!ator an" eye catching co!or) an" therefore it is important to

se co!or combinations caref!!y.

ip 10 3hec% the map appearance in graysca!e * I fin" this tip !ess important for rep!icating a

map+ becase it is becoming increasing!y easier to share "ata an" maps now+ bt rather I

fin" this e!ement important for co!or b!in" rea"ers. If a map appears to be a!! one co!or+

this is 'ery !imiting to the ser. rai! maps co!" !ea" to peop!e !ost in the woo"s if they

are not c!ear+ research proects co!" se inaccrate "ata+ an" so forth.

ip 1 Inc!"e a sca!e bar * $ca!e bars are important for n"erstan"ing how things re!ate to one

another geographica!!y. I fin" this e!ement to a!so be s!ight!y !ess important than other

e!ementsC sca!e bars can imp!y that the sie of a p!ace ho!" 'a!e re!ati'e to the symbo!s

presente" on a map (ie: sca!e bars "o not ho!" importance to gra"ate" symbo!s bt may

be confse").

ip 2 Inc!"e a orth arrow * orth arrows are important+ bt not a!ways accrate. It is better

to !ea'e ot a orth arrow if ncertain abot the re!ati'e !ocation. orth arrows gi'e the

a"ience a sense of "irection+ e'en if it is not comp!ete!y necessary for the map being

interprete"+ (ie: it may be !ess important with a chorop!eth map than with a hi%ing trai!s

map.)

Dor a""itiona! tips I wo!" inc!"e are:

ip 11 Ma%e sre that the map has geographic !ogic * ,!thogh most maps se re!ati'e!y

accrate shapefi!es+ it is important to ma%e sre that geographica!!y+ a!! "ata that is

inc!"e" ma%es sense+ or refer to tip > if yo cannot "o so. Most of the fi!es we are sing

ma%e sense+ bt if one was to be create" from scratch+ it wo!" be important to ha'e it


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fo!!ow basic4natra! geographic processes an" !ocations. , streets map for a town sho!"

not be 'iewe" withot a basic ot!ine of the town.

ip 12 ,s% for peer re'iew * Ea'ing peers re'iew yor map ma%ing process can not on!y

e!iminate simp!e errors or isses+ bt they can he!p to a"" new i"eas to the tab!e an"

pro'i"e o'era!! fee"bac% to impro'e the map.

ip 1 8e caref! with Labe!ing * Labe!ing can be o'er se" or n"er appreciate". It is

important to ma%e sre that if a !egen" is not se" for an item an" it is essentia! to the

map that it is correct!y !abe!e". $imi!ar to symbo!s+ they sho!" offer enogh c!arity as to

not ta%e p too mch room or too !itt!e where they are impossib!e to rea".

ip 1/ Dor !arge sca!e map sca!es+ consi"er sing a !ocator map * , !ocator map can he!p to pt

a focse" map into perspecti'e an" he!p the a"ience to n"erstan" where the map is

focse" on if they are not fami!iar with the area.

Interpreting the F$I Map 3hec%!ist

In my opinion+ tip nmber one+ nmber fi'e+ an" nmber eight are the most important tips to

ma%ing a sccessf! map.

ip nmber one represents n"erstan"ing. Aithot a meaning an" a story+ a map by itse!f is for

the most part se!ess. Ea'ing correspon"ing "ata an" n"erstan"ing what the "ata is te!!ing the

map-ma%er a!ong with what the map-ma%er is trying to e7press sing the "ata is essentia!.

Aithot a story+ a map has !itt!e to offer for both the map-ma%er an" the target a"ience. 8y

focsing on important attribtes of "ata+ we can e7press essentia! informationC we can a!so ma%e

information more c!ear+ we can ma%e information more confsing+ or we can manip!ate


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information to e7press on!y certain aspects of the "ata that we want the a"ience to focs4center

their attention on.

ip nmber fi'e represents c!arity. $ymbo!s are essentia! to map ma%ing*sie+ shape+ an" co!or

choices are 'ery important to me. $ie of symbo!s is simi!ar to white space*e7tremes are not

goo" in either case. he sie of symbo!s can great!y "istract or confse the a"ience. 8ecase

symbo!s are se" for a!most e'ery aspect of mapping+ it is important to !earn how to ba!ance

sies. 3o!or of symbo!s is a!so e7treme!y important to me. , map sho!" not on!y ha'e c!ear

symbo!s an" sho!" ti!ie intiti'e co!or schemes+ bt otherwise sho!" be 'isa!!y appea!ing in

terms of co!or throghot. 3o!ors of symbo!s set a tone for the rest of the map.

ip nmber represents appea!. ,!ong the !ines of co!ors an" sie for symbo!s+ 'isa! hierarchy is

important for "rawing the attention of the a"ience. 8y focsing on a co!or scheme throghot a

map+ the map-ma%er can "raw or "istract from the attention of the a"ience. 8y ma%ing the

important attribtes of "ata stan" ot an" ma%ing the base maps ha'e enogh information4'isa!s

to create re!ati'e or e7act spatia! recognition for the a"ience+ we can ma%e sre that we are

"rawing the attention of the a"ience.

Mapping 9roce"re:

1. ;pene" ,rc#I$ an" accesse" the cata!og 'ia the too!bar on the right of the screen.2. ;pene" the fo!!owing fo!"ers as fo!!owe":

S:("ri'e)

G#F;#21

GM2Leahy

G#I$1

G6ata

G


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G.


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1@.


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9ercentage of 8!ac% 9op!ation of the


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e7cept the !ying map begins on Ahite whi!e the obecti'e map begins on a Light 3ora!4e".

:

here are ob'ios "ifferences in the spatia! pattern of the two maps becase they cannot be

compare" to the same "egree or sca!e. Map 1 has abso!te "ata whi!e Map 2 has re!ati'e "ata.

Ahi!e there are some states that ha'e simi!ar co!or re!ations+ it is impossib!e to compare the two.

8ecase the tota! pop!ation for the states are abstract (as they are not mentione" anywhere) it is

e'en more impossib!e to compare the two*the pop!ation of e'ery state is consi"ere"+ not the

pop!ation of the contry as a who!e.

8oth maps are meaningf!+ bt Map 2 wo!" often be seen as more meaningf!. Map 2 has

re!ati'e "ata+ bt it !oo%s at more attribtes of the states then Map 1 "oes. Map 1 cannot be


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compare" to anything becase it !ac%s an" a""itiona! information+ ie: other race pop!ation or

tota! pop!ation. If Map 1 ha" a tab!e with the tota! pop!ation of each state against the b!ac%

pop!ation of each state+ I wo!" say Map 1 wo!" be more meaningf!. If either one of the

maps ha" the tota! pop!ation of the contry in 2000 or 200@+ I wo!" consi"er that map the most

meaningf!.

Map 1:


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Map 2:

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