The Dictionary of Human Geography

GIScience is concerned theoretically with
every stage of digital representation. Spatial
phenomena must be delineated and classified
in preparation for input to data tables.classi-
ficationsystems, however, must be compat-
ible with data tables, and this acts as a
constraint to the development of categories.
Many spatial phenomena manifest multiple
characteristics, but not all of them can be in-
cluded in a database or the data would be
infinite. The manipulation of data depends
on the attributes that are recorded, or the
objects that are defined. Different community
boundaries, for instance, will render different
results in an assessment of population health.
Visualizing GIS results is likewise vulnerable
to the vagaries of the digital environment, and
must be consistent with human capacity for
perception. At a smallscale(larger area), for
instance, only a limited number of attributes
can be displayed or the map becomes over-
crowded. At a larger scale (smaller area), a
greater number of attributes can be accommo-
dated. Each of these issues has a bearing on
how spatial data are analysed and interpreted.
The GIScience research purview is the rep-
resentation of spatial data and their relation-
ships and these are ultimately expressed in
terms of bits and bytes. Working in a digital
environment is akin to speaking another lan-
guage that uses fundamentally different build-
ing blocks. If we think of the English language
as being composed of twenty-six letters that
can be combined in various ways to form
words, sentences and ideas, then GIS is
based on two letters or digits – zeros and
ones – that can be combined and manipulated
to represent and analyse geographical phe-
nomena and relationships. But the environ-
ment and rules associated with manipulating
geographical objects are quite different from
those we are accustomed to using for conven-
tionaltextand graphics. The digital environ-
ment is constrained by digital parameters
and the extent of representation possible
through combinations and permutations of
bits and bytes.
GIScience is not limited, however, to
process-oriented issues. It is engaged with
how people represent their geographical envir-
onment, and who has the authority to repre-
sent space. Public Participation GIS (PPGIS)
studies and engages with non-profit groups
and non-governmental organizations that use
GIS to represent themselves, and advocate for
change (Elwood and Leitner, 2003). Other
GIScientists address questions aboutfemin-
ismand GIS, and whether the technology is

inherently gendered (Kwan, 2002). Stacey

Warren (2004) explains that PPGIS and

feminism and GIS allow us to move the focus

from analysis and representation in GIS to one

that views the technology as a ‘collaborative

process that involves both people and machin-

ery’. This emphasis on social interactions be-

tween users, affected populations, and

technology is evident in the growing number

ofCritical GIS scholars who have merged

emancipatory agendas and theory from

human geographywith GIScience.

Developers and researchers postulate

that GIScience transcends mereinformation

systems and allows users to ask questions

about spatial relations that were previously

impossible to pose. Its champions argue that

Geographic InformationScienceextends spa-

tial analysis by virtue of enhanced processing

power that allows data-intensive analyses to

extend their geographical breadth. They

claim that GIScience is a means of investigat-

ing previously obscured spatial relationships

and contingencies. There is a tension between

GIS scholars who view the technology as an

emergent phenomenon, capable of initiating

a shift in scientific methodology and other

geographers who view it simply as a vehicle

for concepts that emerge fromgeography.It

is, of course, both. ns

Suggested reading

Longley, Goodchild, Maguire and Rhind (1999);

Schuurman (2004).

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) In

the simplest terms, GIS (or GISystems) is

the mix of hardware, software andpractices

used to runspatial analysisand mapping

programs. GIS does not refer to a homoge-

neous entity, nor one machine or a single prac-

tice but to a collection of practices, software

and hardware with the ability to collect, store,

display, analyse and print information about

the Earth’s surface (or any otherscaleof geog-

raphical data). Each such system is able to

capture, store, check, integrate, analyse and

display spatially referenced data about aspects

of the earth. GIS allows the combination

of geographical data sets (or layers) and the

creation of new geospatial data to which one

can apply standard spatial analysis tools.

Comprehensive GIS require a means of: (i)

data input, frommaps, aerial photos, satellites,

surveys and other sources (cf.remote sens-

ing); (ii) data storage, retrieval, and query;

(iii) data transformation, analysis and model-

ling, including spatial statistics; and finally

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GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS)