Documenting a Best Practices Guide for Mapping in India

The talks aims to document some of the best practices while visualizing data on a map especially in the Indian Context?

CONTEXT

It is an exciting time to make maps. Free and Open Source tools have democratized map making . More and more data is being represented spatially. However, key cartographic principles need to be kept in mind while representing data spatially to help us to tell the truth and not be misled while creating a map.

What are the ideal scenarios for picking between choropleth vs spot vs hex-bin maps? When should data be normalized? How do we identify clustering? How does one deal with the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem or the Area Bias Problem?

Mapping can also be a hyperlocal activity. The same area in India may have different divisions for revenue, elections and administrations. New districts often emerge which make comparisons across time. How have teams managed this problem while working on their own projects?

WHO IS THIS DIALOGUE FOR?

This dialogue is for any one who makes maps or wants to make maps. Having a group of experienced practitioners in the mix will be ideal as this is intended to be a discussion and not advice. It is intended as a peer exchange where experienced mappers can share their workflows and newcomers can learn the "hidden" principles of map-making in India.

FACILITATION GUIDE

1. Introductions – Roles / Software Used?
2. Assigning a scribe for note - taking
3. Stating of Objectives
4. Common Problems Facilitator can display a map with the common pitfall Participants can list out and discuss strategies they use for each of the problems. As time is limited , experts can pick the discussion topics we need to cover.

a. Suggested Projection Systems for India i. Projections for Distance ii. Projections for Area iii. Projections for Geometry b. The Area- Bias Problem How do we avoid large geometries from dominating the visual space when they have the least data? c. Pittfalls of plotting counts on Chloropleth Maps d. The Modified Areal Unit Problem e. Identifying clusters – how do we quantify and identify clusters f. The Edge Effect at borders g. Classifying and Binning Data i. Quantiles ii. Natural Breaks iii. Jenks h. Mapping too many variables i. Strategies for dealing with changing district borders in India? j. Maintaining confidentiality of data points when appropriate – ethical considerations. 5. Summarizing our findings 6. Forming a community of practice for mapping.

WHAT SHOULD THE PARTIPANTS WALK AWAY WITH?

At the end of this presentation , the community will be equipped with a written document that highlights best practices while making maps in the Indian Context based on the expertise of the groups. Participants will walk away with the collective wisdom of the group.

WHAT PREPARATIONS ARE NEEDED FROM PARTICIPANTS

If experienced participants can prepare solutions to the pitfalls listed it may help us synthesize a stronger document at the end. However, the session is open to anyone that maybe curious as to what best practices to follow while mapping.