Data Visualization - Fall 2024
Spatial Analysis of School Climate
I was tasked with analyzing the dataset and visualizing it using GIS tools. My dataset came from ICPSR, part of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. As a final deliverable, I created a story map using an ESRI story map that allows visitors to explore the dataset with diverse interactions.
QGIS
ArcGIS
ESRI Storymap
GitHub
Timeline
Role
Collaborators
Tools
10 weeks
(Fall 2024)
Data Specialist
Web Designer
Individual Project
Selected for a StoryMap presentation at the 2025 LA Geospatial Summit - Most suitably applied analysis
BACKGROUND
Students learn a lot from interacting with other students at school. Not only does the school's environment impact student growth, but students are also impacted by outside factors such as peer networking and their backgrounds. As a college student who values school environments, I expect this project will allow me to analyze the impact of outside factors on student behavior. Exploring student behavior is also important because the formation of the norm in school also impacts their academic achievement.
The dataset “Changing Climates of Conflict: A Social Network Experiment in 56 Schools” is a large-scale social network data drawn from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). According to the theories of human behavior, individuals attend to the behavior of others in the same group to understand the social norms and adjust their behavior accordingly. This experiment conducted an anti-conflict intervention on 56 schools in New Jersey to test whether the human behavior theory indeed took place in the schools.
RESEARCH QUESTION
What is the correlation between factors that may affect students' environment?
DATA VISUALIZATION
QGIS
QGIS is an open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) software that allows users to visualize and analyze geospatial data.
Map 1: Location of New Jersey State
This map shows the location of the New Jersey state in the United States, which is in in the Northeastern region of the United States.
ArcGIS
This map shows the location of New Jersey counties, which provides background information for an effective understanding of the maps that will be displayed. New Jersey has 21 counties, which is relatively smaller than other states.
ArcGIS
This heat map shows in which region New Jersey's schools are concentrated. The schools are mainly concentrated in the northeastern area, the area close to Philadelphia, and the Lakewood region.
Chart 1: Middle Schools Per County in New Jersey State
Chart 1 shows middle schools per county in New Jersey in order, and it shows that Burgen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties have the highest portion of middle schools per county. This dataset analysis correlates with the map, which shows that Burgen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties are in the northeastern region of New Jersey, where schools are concentrated.
From this, we can speculate that the schools in the northeastern area will have a higher degree of urbanization and population density, which is related to students' networking with peers.
ArcGIS
This map reveals the average household income by area.
As can be seen from this map, the area that shows high median household income is mainly concentrated in the northeastern area. As can be inferred from this data, the northeastern area would be the most urbanized in New Jersey. The counties in the northeastern area are Passaic, Bergen, Essex, Morris, Hudson, and Union New Jersey's middle schools are concentrated (Chart 1).
Chart 2: Relationship Between Population Density and Average Household Income in New Jersey
The Urbanized degree can be revealed by analyzing the correlation between the urbanized degree and population density. As can be infered from Chart 2, Bergen, Passaic, and Union Counties showed the highest population density with a high average household income.
CASE STUDY
Bloomfield Middle School: Essex county
This map shows the location of Bloomfield Middle School, which is in Essex County. I created this 3D map through https://3d-mapper.com/ and created a legend using Figma. As we analyzed above, Essex County has many schools, its median household income is high compared to other counties, and it has a high population density, which leads to an assumption that Essex County has a high urbanized degree. I created the 3D map using the satellite base layer and the point cloud dataset provided by the United States Geological Survey. The point cloud layer reflects the height of the features in the map, and the lowest height is represented as green, and when it gets higher, the color gets close to red. In this map, the buildings are represented as green, and the trees are colored red because of their height. As seen in the map, the area around Bloomfield Middle School shows a high portion of green area, surrounded by roads, houses, and transportation with a small portion of a natural environment.
Salem Middle School: Salem County
This map shows the Salem Middle School, which is in Salem County. As represented in Chart 2, Salem County shows the lowest population density. Also, schools are not concentrated in that area, and the median household income is low. In sum, Salem County has a low degree of urbanization. As can be seen from the map, the area around Salem Middle School is not developed compared to other regions, and it has a massive portion of undeveloped land.
The first map shows a higher degree of urbanization. Not only is the area around the school developed, but its development extends to broad areas. However, the second map shows that from this visualization, I could conclude that the degree of urbanization differs by county. Utilizing the point cloud layer lets viewers see the feature's height at a glance.
DELIVERABLE
Stroytelling Through ESRI Story Map
Based on visualizations, I created an ESRI story map to showcase my visualization in chronological order.
CONCLUSION
I found out that there is a positive correlation between median household income, populated degree of school, and urbanized degree. Also, the schools were concentrated in the county with a high degree of urbanization. I believe this is because in a county with a highly urbanized degree, the more the surrounding commercial districts, education, and residential areas will develop, the more the population will be concentrated.
REFLECTION
This project gave me a meaningful experience in utilizing diverse GIS tools such as QGIS, ArcGIS, and 3D maps.
Providing users a deep understanding of the dataset through various interactions gave me an opportunity to reflect on the significance of catching user’s attention through the interactions.