Creating maps and other geographical

visualizations from census data

UK Data Service Census Support census geography courseUniversity of Edinburgh6th June 2013

Carol BlackwoodUK Data ServiceEDINA

The power of maps

• Mapping census data reveals patterns hidden in tabular data

• Using GIS allows you to be creative and flexible

• Highlight the features that are important to your research

Types of maps

• Common maps used when looking at census data

• Choropleth map• A thematic map shaded according to a variable e.g.

population, age

• Cartogram• A thematic map where land area is shown in proportion to

the variable of interest

District outlines

DIGITAL BOUNDARY DATA

Census Aggregate Statisticse.g. Population by district of SW England

=

Map displaying population of SW England

Choropleth map- A thematic shaded map

edin_oa_no_heating

percent

0.000000 - 6.250000

6.250001 - 15.710000

15.710001 - 29.270000

29.270001 - 47.620000

47.620001 - 82.350000

http://casa.oobrien.com/booth/?zoom=10&lat=55.90441&lon=-3.84683&layers=B000FFTT#

http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/?p=1508

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20713380

Local authority areas drawn by population size

Creating your own maps

• Many options for creating thematic maps including…

• Create choropleth maps using GIS

• Thematic Mapper - http://thematic.edina.ac.uk/thematic/map

• Cartogrammar - http://cartogrammar.edina.ac.uk

CAS postcode sectors sized by 2001 population