Social Sciences Data Resource Page

Spatial Data and GIS

GIS Tutorials

ArcGIS I: Map Making for the Social Sciences (2 hrs) Introduction to the fundamentals of map making and spatial analysis for the Social Sciences. Participants learn how to import, manipulate, analyze, display and evaluate spatial and numeric data. Different data formats are discussed. Focus is on federal and state data.

ArcGIS II: Intermediate Map Making for the Social Sciences (2 hrs) This tutorial is a continuation of ArcGIS I. The emphasis is on creating and editing data. Topics covered include tagging, joining tables, buffering, selecting, editing, making new features, merging shapefiles, using the field calculator and creating new data. Tools and toolboxes are explored. (Please download and unzip GISData2)

Geocoding (1 1/2 hrs) This tutorial specializes on geocoding, a process of giving geographic identifiers to map features. The uses of geocoding for different disciplines are discussed, along with the different types of geocoding, e.g. addresses and X Y coordinates. Focus is given to applying this tool and quality control. Please be familiar with the material covered in ArcGIS I and II. (Please download and unzip geocoding)

Georeferencing and Editor Tool (1 1/2 hrs) Learn how to convert maps into digitial formats that can be used in ArcGIS. Focus is on digitizing, georeferencing and creating shapefiles from paper maps. Practice using editor tool for making features and attributes. Please be familiar with the material covered in ArcGIS I and II. (Please download and unzip georeference)

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ArcGIS I: Map Making for Community Health (2 hrs) Introduction to the fundamentals of map making and spatial analysis for Community Health. Participants learn how to import, manipulate, analyze, display and evaluate spatial and numeric data. Different data formats are discussed. Focus is on federal and state data.