Geographic Data Science

Good old spatial data

Good old spatial data (+)

Traditionally, datasets used in the (social) sciences are:

• Collected for the purpose –> carefully designed
• Detailed in information (“…rich profiles and portraits of the country…”)
• High quality

Good old spatial data (-)

But also:

• Massive enterprises ("…every single person…) –> costly
• But coarse in resolution (to preserve pricacy they need to be aggregated)
• Slow: the more detailed, the less frequent they are available

Examples

• Decenial census (and census geographies)
• Longitudinal surveys
• Customly collected surveys, interviews, etc.
• Economic indicators
• …