Module 7 - Choropleths

This week I created choropleths for the cartography lab. Everyone has seen a map like this but I doubt anyone actually knows what they are called, except for cartographers and other GIS nerds. At first glance choropleths seem simple and appealing to look at, at least in my opinion, but when you start working on one you realize just how complicated they can be. The most interesting facet for me was how easy it can be to lie using one of these maps. Using the right groupings or minor differentiation in color can hide all types of details that people might want to know and map makers can be real tricksters by using different methods of classification on one map. While creating the map graphic I also accepted the fact that statistics and I will become best friends much sooner than later.

My map for the week shows several population statistics for European countries including wine consumption. I utilized multiple layers in ArcMap to symbolize the same shapefile in several different ways. The large map shows population density and wine consumption rates. The population density is classified by quantiles and the wine consumption is classified by natural breaks. The female and male percentages by country are classified using natural breaks as well. All of the classifying was done within the Symbolgy Tab of the Properties for each shapefile. I viewed different methods for classifying the data including standard deviation, equal interval, manual in addition to the methods pictured. I also explored the difference between graduated and proportional symbols for the wine consumption icons but decided on graduated symbols as the display for classified data was easier to understand. 

Choosing color schemes was a whole different project for this lab. For me, sequential color schemes are difficult to differentiate no matter the hue. The various shades of color also made it difficult to find an appropriate background color. I even tried to set the page background to black and use white text in hopes that it would help me differentiate the lighter shades on the graphic but it was not successful so I reverted back to the white page. Every week I experience more of the tiny details that go in to making a map and I can say that choosing colors and fonts are becoming some of the most time consuming parts.