PROJECT 2: CENSUS DATA AND THEMATIC MAPS

This is a reference map and it has been zoomed in to show my neighborhood. In the map you can see Dewey, OK that is actually on the north edge of Bartlesville. It shows the boundaries of the towns of Dewey and Bartlesville and highways, major roads and streets. It also shows bodies of water such as Deer creek. This map was created using the mapping tool provided by the American Fact Finder. Information on the map was derived from the census data set "2006 population estimates. I set the boundary grouping to "American Cities and Towns". The features shown here are graphic representations of "TIGER" line files that the U.S. census bureau uses to help conduct and present results of the National Census. TIGER stands for Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system. The maps are basically USGS topographical maps that have been scanned and turned into digital information and then had the census database of information, or "data sets" added to them. Topographical maps were designed and developed years ago by the USGS using vertical aerial photography that had been "rectified" to get rid of height distortions that are caused by variations of height of the earth's surface. Since scanning the maps and making digital representations of them, the census has been continuously updating and adding new information to them. As quoted from the census, "The resulting TIGER data base file was in turn updated by maps obtained from local officials and some field work done by Bureau staff"(U.S. census bureau). The USGS and the census continue to work together with the current maps and developing the new digital National Map. Lastly, you will probably notice after you finish reading this project that reference maps usually show more types and amount of information than do thematic maps that follow.The map scale calculated on the basis of pixel width of the image which was calculated on a computer set to 800 x 600 pixels for both maps shown here. The map will appear smaller or larger if viewed at higher or lower resolution.

Here is a map that shows the east side of Bartlesville. I chose to zoom in to Bartlesville because Washington county is not much wider than Bartlesville and the data is much more detailed when zoomed in. Also the data seems to be incomplete for parts of the city and the parts of the county. The thematic map above has been designed to show how many American Indians reside here in the city of Bartlesville. Results show that there are many American Indians here and they are not concentrated in one specific area, although it does seem to show that there are more on the northern edge of town. There are also some new developments that are not shown on this map.The data is based on the data set "persons per square mile 2006" and " American Community Survey" files that are based on estimates from demographic, social, and economic characteristics of people, housing units, and households for every state in the nation (American Fact Finder). The thematic maps that are created at "American Fact Finder" are designed and put together using the TIGER Line files that are broken down into data classes. The TIGER Line file that was used to create this map was the "2000 American Indian Area/Alaska Native Area". I pulled the file up by setting the boundary to "2000 American Indian Area/Alaska Native Area".The 2006 census population estimates have been broken down into 5 quantile classes. "Quantile classification method distributes a set of values into groups that contain an equal number of values"(Wikipedia). If you look at the legend, you can see the boundaries and the features that are represented. Take notice of the classes and see that the largest class ranges from 12.8 to 57.1 % while the class second from the top ranges from 0.1 to 1.8%. The concentration of American Indians are broken into classified groups that are not necessarily even ranges. This method was desirable to me because it breaks the areas up into smaller sections and you can get a better feel of what part of the city is most populated instead of a few big general areas. On this map there are still some hydrograhy features shown such as creeks and one river, and various ponds across town. The streets are shown as well as city boundaries. The scale of the maps above was figured by measuring the map on the screen and dividing it into the area that it represents . I rounded the number off to the nearest 100,000th.