Lab 1 | Geog112lablogblog

Lab 1: What's Your Map For? and Mappable Data

1/15/22

I decided to get ahead and determine what my map's purpose was before class. I think I overdid it. Through my vision may not come to fruition, it's good to have a vision.

What is the overall purpose of your map?

To show people what the average population density per county in South Carolina is. In addition, the map would show if the population density for a county has increased or decreased from 2010 to 2020 and by what percentage. The map would also show the locations of major cities with populations over 25,000 people.

Who is the intended audience?

Adults who are considering moving to South Carolina but don't want to live in undercrowded or overcrowded areas. These adults also want to know if there is a nearby urban area for entertainment, food, etc.

What do you expect the viewers of the maps you create to know?

I expect them to know how to read a scale and not be color-blind (since I will be using red and blue). I also expect them to know how percentages work.

What is the final medium for your map (it will be on the WWW) and how might this affect the way your map is created and put together?

Since it will be on the internet I am free to use different colors. In addition, I don't expect this map to be printed out (at least in black and white). Since white stands out, white will highlight the "ideal" population density, which will be 150 people per square mile (a number I thought was somewhat in the middle of undercrowded and overcrowded). For areas that are undercrowded the color blue will be used. Lighter shades of blue represent the population density being closer to the ideal while darker shades of blue represent the population density being further from the ideal. For areas that are overcrowded the color red will be used. The same color shade scheme will apply. Each county will also have a percentage number representing how much the population density rose or fall from 2010 to 2020. This number will be in black and be below the county name.
The entire map will be able to fit a 11.5 inch computer screen and it will have zoom interactivity for smaller devices. The map will utilize big font and not contain a lot of detail since it's online. The county names will be in all caps. In addition, the map will show locations of large major and small major cities using a triangle for large major cities and a square for small major cities. These symbols will be in black. If the map will not be too clustered and conforms to the guidelines for a Basic Decision Making map I would also add the city names. Large major cities are cities with a population of 75,000 people or more. Small major cities are cities with a population between 25,000 and 74,999 people.

1/24/22

Data forms:

Most of the data I found was in PDF form and a lot of it was not of high quality. In addition, some of the PDFs have over 100 pages. Beginning in 1950, I have access to CSV files. These files should work best. ArcGIS does not support PDF files as raw data files.

Copyright/usage regulations with US Census data:

In particular, I did not notice any copyright issues. However, I was mostly focused on finding data. I think part of the thing is that data itself is not copyright as Dr. Krygier mentioned in class.

Journal:

I had the biggest challenges finding my data. It took me way too long. I have used the US Census website before, and I always hate using it because it’s very disorganized and virtually impossible to find anything. I had to Google everything and click around and hope I found useful things. I used search terms like “sc population 1950,” “South Carolina population 1950,” “sc population by county,” “population by county for sc.” In the end, I was getting very frustrated with the US Census website and had to use the South Carolina state government website as well; this site was much easier to navigate. In addition, a lot of time my searches just generated results I had already seen. A challenge with the PDFs was that I had to scroll randomly and try to make out blurry text to see if it had the data I needed. Finding two data sources for things was a huge challenge as well.

It took me a while to come up with the purpose of my map. I used the textbook as a guide. My inspiration was my parents since they want to move to SC. I actually did this component before we met on 1/24 since I figured the lab would be long; I did not think it would have took as long as it did though.

Finding interesting historical websites was a challenge because there are not many sites out there that are official or at least known for being reputable. Plus, most historical SC websites have to do with the Civil War. Finding historical websites alone took over an hour and was very boring. As a result, I put a lot less effort into finding sites that explained population change; in addition, it was also easier to find these.

Overall, this lab took way too long. I would have preferred if I had the weekend to work on this. I think the data collection and the Google Earth were enough for one lab given the time restraints. Also, the wifi kept going out when I was trying to do this project, which made things even more frustrating. Ugh. Tired. Stressed. Unhappy.

South Carolina Population Data:

1900:

Statistics for South Carolina

https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41033935v35-41ch6.pdf (pg.11-17)

PDF

Contents- South Carolina

https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/06229686v38-43ch2.pdf (pg. 11)

PDF

1910:

Statistics for South Carolina

https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41033935v35-41ch6.pdf (pg. 11-17)

PDF