Cultural Geography Scale vs. Scale of Analysis

Scale vs. Scale of Analysis What is the scale? ● Scale is the relationship of the size of a map to the amount of area it represents on Earth. Large Scale Small Scale On a large scale map, less area would be shown in greater detail (think “zoom in”) On a small scale map, more area would be shown in less detail (think “zoom out”) What is meant by scale of analysis? ● Scale of analysis is the level at which data is displayed on a map. It is important for you to identify the scale of analysis in four different ways: global, regional, national OR local. ● The way to be successful here is by identifying how the data is grouped and presented. Global Scale of Analysis Regional Scale of Analysis *Notice how there are no boundary lines depicted in the map **The map scale of the map is the smallest scale (think zoom out) *Notice how there are regional boundary lines, but not national political boundaries. **The map scale of the map is still small scale (zoomed out) ● Global scale of analysis showed the ● Regional scale of analysis shows world at one level of data. data by continents or world regions. ● This level of analysis is usually not ● Example: the map above depicts data that useful and is almost impossible that is grouped by to use. regions/continents. ● Example: Climate change ○ Consider major world regions, like Southeast Asia, SubSaharan Africa, Oceania, Anglo-America, etc. National Scale of Analysis Local Scale of Analysis *Notice how there ARE political boundary lines depicted in the map with different levels of data based on GDP per capita **The map scale of the map is large scale (think zoom out) *Notice how there are subregional boundary lines within the United States depicted in the map above **The map scale of the map is the smallest scale (zoomed in) ● National scale of analysis shows data for one or more countries ● Example: Using the map above, we can determine that the United States has an extremely high GDP per ● Local scale of analysis shows data at a subnational level ● Example: the states within the United States (you could also show more localized, like counties, zip capita, but that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has an extremely low GDP per capita. codes) Example of Scale of Analysis What is the scale of analysis of the data? ● Regional How do you know? ● It shows the different regions, but not each specific country (there are no political boundaries) What is the scale of analysis of the data? ● National How do you know? ● Because each political country has their own shade on the spectrum, and you can clearly see its boundaries. You have internal borders inside the regionals What is the scale of analysis of the data? ● National How do you know? ● Because each political country has their own shade on the spectrum, and you can clearly see its boundaries. Each country also has their unique set of dots. What is the scale of analysis of the data? ● Local How do you know? ● Because the EU (European Union) countries each have their own shade on their spectrum and you can clearly see their borders. What is the scale of analysis of the data? ● National and Regional How do you know? ● The blue boxes identify each region, while the political boundaries between countries are distinct.