Geography

R.J. Johnston , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

Geography is the study of areal differentiation, of variations at different scales in the environment, in human activities, and in the interactions between the two. Its key concepts are environment, place, and space and its goal is to account for what is where. Geography emerged as an academic discipline in the late nineteenth century, providing knowledge about areal differentiation that was crucial both for informing commercial and colonial enterprises and for creating an informed citizenry in a new age of mass education. It built on foundations provided by earlier generations of explorers, cartographers, travelers, and traders. During the twentieth century, especially the second half, it expanded substantially, both volumetrically and in its subject matter, fragmenting along a number of dimensions, both substantive and philosophical. It now comprises a range of research communities, many with close links to other disciplines in the environmental sciences (mainly physical geography), the social sciences, and the humanities. Within contemporary human geography, there are major streams of work on: spatial analysis; place and difference; and environment–society interactions.

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Geography

James O. Wheeler , in Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, 2005

Social Area Analysis

One of the most common examples of the use factor analysis in geography is known as social area analysis (also known as factorial ecology). In these applications to various U.S. cities, a considerable number of variables (sometimes up to 50) are inputed for an even larger number of census tracts, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. The purpose of this use of factor analysis is to measure and map the social space in the city and to break the large number of variables down into a small number of social factors.

Analyses of several U.S. cities have yielded remarkably similar results. Whether the number of variables used is 20 or 50, three basic factors have emerged in virtually all of these studies. (To be considered a factor, the potential factor must have an eigenvalue greater than unity.) Table VIII lists the generalized variables typically employed to measure social areas in the city and the three factors that commonly result from social area analysis.

Table VIII. Typical Factors and Variables Used in Social Area Analysis

Factors Variables
Socioeconomic status Income
Occupation
Education
Housing value
Family status Marital status
Fertility
Family size
Age of adults
Ethnic status Black population
Hispanic population
Asian population
Linguistic groups

The socioeconomic status factor is usually the strongest indicator of the various social areas in the city. Census tracts fall into high, medium, and low on the factor scores, and, as indicated earlier, these can be mapped. The socioeconomic factor, as indicated by factor scores for the census tracts, take on sectoral patterns, radiating away from the center of the city and expanding into the suburban areas. Thus, high-income sectors or wedges extend from the inner city into suburban space and medium-income sectors and low-income sectors have their own corresponding social spaces. Although factor analysis provides a quantitative index to the differentiated socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods, even a casual observer driving through the various neighborhoods in a city can see and experience the different socioeconomic levels. Such observations are usually based merely on housing indicators, such as the size and age of the house, lot size, and landscaping quality.

The second factor identified in social area analysis is family status, sometimes termed the life-cycle stage or urbanization index. This factor largely measures the demographic characteristics of census tracts. From mapping factor scores, the family status factor displays a pattern of concentric circles.

The third factor measures minority or ethnic status and is sometimes referred to as the segregation index. Here the social areas of the city are clumped into different racial, language, and accent groups and often on the basis of level of poverty and unemployment.

Because these three identified factors are derived by the use of factor analysis, the three factors are independent of one another. It is the composite of these three factors that gives rise to the social structure of the city.

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Electoral Geography

R. Johnston , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

Electoral geography studies the spatial aspects of elections: it is a small subfield within geography that overlaps other disciplines, notably political science. Geography is important to elections because their conduct and outcome involves the interaction of several maps—notably those of constituencies and of supporters for various candidates and parties—to produce others, such as the geographies of representation and of power ('who gets what, where?'). Electoral geographers' main concerns are with: spatial variations in the support for candidates and parties at a variety of scales; spatial variations in, and the impacts of, campaigning for that support; the construction of territorially-delimited constituencies in different electoral systems; and the geographies of representation that result from the pattern of votes across constituencies.

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Space and Social Theory in Geography

B. Warf , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

Geography's intersections with social theory and political economy in the late twentieth century decisively reoriented the field around several postpositivist epistemologies. Marxist political economy contributed to a wide-ranging historicization of the field, emphasizing the centrality of production, labor, class, struggle, and the state as they pertained to the spatial division of labor and the persistence of uneven development at various scales. Humanistic perspectives, particularly phenomenology, injected an understanding of the human subject in its experiential, psychological, and ideological complexity, infusing the discipline with an appreciation of the contingency of social life. Structuration theory fused these macro and micro levels, suturing daily life to larger webs of material and social worlds, a view buttressed by realism. Feminism underscored the centrality of gender in all of these domains. Under postmodernism, geography acquired a sustained concern for the opaqueness of language, the complexity of social narratives, and the politics of discourse. Contemporary concerns stress the nature of discourse, representation, and identity at levels ranging from the individual to global manifestations of orientalism. Central to all of these perspectives is a respect for difference and the political origins and consequences of knowledge. Social theory—itself increasingly spatialized by its encounter with geography—has transformed geography from a passive recipient of innovative conceptions into an active generator.

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Epidemiological Distribution of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Using Geographical Information System

Parissa Farnia , ... Ali Akbar Velayati , in Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM), 2019

Clinical Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Reported From America

The America study data collected from four countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and United States. The geographical distribution of Northern and Southern America is shown in Fig. 10.17 by the higher frequency of species. In general, in America 44,507 NTM have been reported from clinical samples. The highest prevalence of NTM is in Canada with (37,835/44,510; 85%), followed by Unites states (5324/44,510; 11.96%), Brazil (1316/44,510; 2.95%), and Argentina (35/44,510; 0.07%).

Figure 10.17. The distribution of nontuberculous mycobacteria species from clinical samples identified in (A) Northern and (B) Southern America.

M. avium complex (18,816/44,510; 42.27%), M. xenopi (3647/44,510; 8.19%), M. gordonae (809/44,510; 1.81%), and M. kansasii (732/44,510; 1.64%) were the most frequent species among different regions in America (Table 10.25). Table 10.25 shows the data recorded for America by country, period of study, as well as the frequency of different species.

Table 10.25. Species Distribution of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria From Clinical Samples in America

Species Country (Reference) (Period)
Argentina (Hoefsloot et al., 2013) (2008) Brazil (Mello et al., 2013) (1991–2011) Canada (Hernandez-Garduno et al., 2009; Marras et al., 2007; Al Houqani et al., 2011; Marras et al., 2017) (1990–2007) United States (Cassidy et al., 2009; Henkle et al., 2017; Ford et al., 2017) (1998–2012) Total America
M. avium complex 6 835 15,290 2685 (18,816/44,510; 42.27%)
M. avium 11 235 (246/44,510; 0.55%)
M. gordonae 4 106 699 (809/44,510; 1.81%)
M. xenopi 8 3598 41 (3647/44,510; 8.19%)
M. intracellulare 6 128 (134/44,510; 0.30%)
M. fortuitum group 10 (10/44,510; 0.022%)
M. fortuitum/chelonae group 16 (16/44,510; 0.035%)
M. fortuitum 1 64 347 82 (494/44,510; 1.10%)
M. fortuitum complex 53 (53/44,510; 0.11%)
M. fortuitum/peregrinum 28 (28/44,510; 0.06%)
M. kansasii 4 196 445 87 (732/44,510; 1.64%)
M. chelonae 1 482 190 (673/44,510; 1.51%)
M. chelonae/M. abscessus 92 (92/44,510; 0.20%)
M. abscessus 23 174 (197/44,510; 0.44%)
M. abscessus/massiliense 44 (44/44,510; 0.098%)
M. lentiflavum 1 66 (67/44,510; 0.15%)
M. sherrisii 1 1 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. marinum/M. ulcerans 5 (5/44,510; 0.011%)
M. ulcerans 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. marinum 88 (88/44,510; 0.19%)
M. terrae 1 8 (9/44,510; 0.020%)
M. terrae complex 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. peregrinum 2 7 (9/44,510; 0.020%)
M. simiae 1 23 (24/44,510; 0.053%)
M. simiae complex 4 (4/44,510; 0.008%)
M. nonchromogenicum 7 (7/44,510; 0.015%)
M. chimaera 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. interjectum 4 (4/44,510; 0.008%)
M. arupense 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. celatum 1 2 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. scrofulaceum 6 (6/44,510; 0.013%)
M. szulgai 1 17 (18/44,510; 0.040%)
M. mucogenicum/phocaicum 12 (12/44,510; 0.026%)
M. mucogenicum 21 (21/44,510; 0.047%)
M. genavense 8 (8/44,510; 0.017%)
M. phlei 2 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. haemophilum 12 (12/44,510; 0.026%)
M. florentinum 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. nebraskense 26 (26/44,510; 0.058%)
M. obuense 10 (10/44,510; 0.022%)
M. doricum 6 (6/44,510; 0.013%)
M. bovis 20 (20/44,510; 0.044%)
M. kumamotonense 2 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. neoaurum 11 (11/44,510; 0.024%)
M. aurum 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. vaccae 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. elephantis 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. insubricum 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. porcinum 15 (15/44,510; 0.033%)
M. alvei 2 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. parascrofulaceum 5 (5/44,510; 0.011%)
M. shimoidei 2 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. paraffinicum 10 (10/44,510; 0.022%)
M. triplex 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. branderi 2 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. goodii 15 (15/44,510; 0.033%)
M. cosmeticum 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. heckeshornense 10 (10/44,510; 0.022%)
M. frederiksbergense 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. hassiacum 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. leprae 6 (6/44,510; 0.013%)
M. lepraemurium 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. immunogenum 7 (7/44,510; 0.015%)
M. gastri 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. ilatzerense 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. intermedium 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. seoulense 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. kyorinense 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. conceptionense 2 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. aubagnense 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. bolletii 7 (7/44,510; 0.015%)
M. brisbanense 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. septicum 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. senegalense 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. parmense 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. pulveris 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
M. massiliense 3 6 (9/44,510; 0.020%)
M. asiaticum 1 1 (2/44,510; 0.004%)
M. mageritense 3 (3/44,510; 0.006%)
M. smegmatis 5 (5/44,510; 0.011%)
M. flavescens 1 (1/44,510; 0.002%)
Other 59 17,673 200 (17,932/44,510; 40.28%)
Unidentified 14 50 (64/44,507; 0.14%)
Total NTM 35 1316 37,835 5324 (44,510/44,510; 100%)

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Urban Geography

R. Schneider-Sliwa , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

1.1 The Scope of Urban Geography

Urban geography is a specialized discipline within human geography. It deals with the analysis, explanation, and prognosis of urban forms, urban social fabric, and economic structures and functions. Urban geography addresses research questions from economic, political, social, and ecosystem geography in their urban contexts at various scales. The scientific results of urban research increasingly serve as a basis for decisions on public investment, allocation of resources, and socioeconomic and urban development planning. Urban research can be broken down into interurban (system of cities) and intra-urban analyses, which address the processes going on within cities (see Cities, Internal Organization of ).

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Social Geography

S. Bowlby , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

1 Introduction—When and What

Social geography emerged as a significant sub-discipline during the 1960s. Although earlier references to 'social geography' can be found, Johnston ( 1987) notes that it is barely mentioned in reviews of geography published in the 1950s. The development of the new sub-discipline was part of exciting theoretical and methodological change that geography experienced in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s, vigorous theoretical debates led to a variety of conflicting approaches to research in social geography. By the early 1980s, the sub-discipline was of major importance within human geography. Indeed, a recent discussion of the area claimed that it became 'virtually synonymous with the whole field of human geography' (Johnston et al. 1994, p. 562). Nevertheless, the growing prominence of cultural geography towards the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s had a major impact on social geography. This was neatly symbolized by the decision of the 'Social Geography Study Group' of the Institute of British Geographers (which had been formed in the early 1970s) to change its title to 'The Social and Cultural Geography Study Group' in the 1990s.

What is social geography and what do social geographers do? The rapid growth of the sub-discipline and the significant theoretical debates within it have involved shifts in its definition and practice. In 1965, Pahl suggested that it was about 'the theoretical location of social groups and social characteristics, often within an urban setting' (p. 82). In 1975, Emrys Jones argued that 'social geography involves the understanding of the patterns which arise from the use social groups make of space as they see it, and of the processes involved in making and changing such patterns' (p. 7). The emphasis on social groups evident in Pahl's earlier definition remains of particular importance, in that what is held to make social geography 'social' is its concern not with individuals but with people as members of groups. However, there are some significant changes between the two definitions. First, Jones' definition introduces the idea that social processes produce spatial patterns and vice versa. This understanding of social geography remained dominant into the 1980s. Second, Jones' definition includes the phrase 'the use social groups make of spaceas they see it' (author's emphasis). This signals an increasing interest in people's subjective experiences in specific places—an interest that has become increasingly prominent in research designs.

The understanding of the scope and aims of social geography implied in Jones' definition endured until the mid-1980s when it came under increasing attack. These attacks and their implications for the development of social geography make better sense in the context of the account of the type of work that social geographers did from the 1960s to the mid 1980s, presented below.

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Nature–Society in Geography

B.L. TurnerII, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

1 Roots of the Theme in Geography

Ancient geography (Greek geographia, meaning writing about the earth) involved descriptions of the earth, serving to compile knowledge of places not experienced in everyday life and as found in travel and exploration. All places contain 'nature,' and most are occupied or used in some capacity by our species. It is not surprising, therefore, that 'complete' geographies documented the human and environmental character of places, at least as this understanding could be derived from observing places (Glacken 1967). This substantive interest, in various intellectual forms, remains throughout the history of geography, although it continually struggles with other identities of the discipline in the search for its intellectual niche.

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Wireless Sensor Networks Enabling Ecoinformatics

S.S. Iyengar , ... N. Balakrishnan , in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008

Location-Based Protocols

Most sensing applications are inherently geography aware. Most of the routing protocols for sensor networks require location information for sensor nodes. Location information is needed in order to calculate the distance between two particular nodes so that energy consumption can be estimated. Location information can be utilized in routing for energy efficiency. For example, if the region from which data are collected is known, using the location of sensors, the query can be diffused only to that particular region which will eliminate the number of transmissions significantly.

Geography and energy aware routing

Geography and energy aware routing (GEAR) uses a geographically informed and energy-aware neighbor selection heuristic to route the packet toward the target region. The process of forwarding a packet toward the region involves choosing a neighbor that is closest to the destination among all the neighbors. Each node keeps an estimated cost and a learned cost of reaching the destination through its neighbors. The estimated cost is a combination of residual energy and distance to destination. The learned cost is a refinement of the estimated cost that accounts for routing around the holes in the network. The learned cost is propagated one hop back every time a packet reaches the destination so that the route setup for the next packet will be adjusted.

When all the neighbors are away, GEAR chooses a neighbor that minimizes the cost value, which is computed as

[1] c N i , R = α d N i , R + 1 − α e N i

where d N i , R is the distance from Ni to the centroid D of the region R normalized by the largest distance among all the neighbors Ni and e N i is the consumed energy at node Ni normalized by the largest consumed energy among the neighbors of N.

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Advances in Parasitology

Eric P. Hoberg , ... Lydden Polley , in Advances in Parasitology, 2012

Geography to a large extent determines climate and, in combination with climate, provides the matrix within which ecosystems exist, function and evolve.

David M. Hopkins, in Paleoecology of Beringia (1982).

The distributions of species that currently occur in the Arctic represent a snapshot of a dynamic and ongoing process driven by historical climate changes….

Terry V. Callaghan et al. (2004c).

There are still some areas in the Arctic, especially in North America, where it is possible to define natural parasite-host relationships, or at least to gain an understanding of such relationships before the arrival of Europeans.

Robert L. Rausch (1974).

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