ERROR ON CHOROPLETHIC MAPS: DEFINITION, MEASUREMENT, REDUCTION

ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Communication, whether oral, written, or graphic depends upon the ability of one individual to transfer information to another. In this essay we have tried to illustrate the fact that error in choroplethic mapping inhibits the transfer of information and that there are methods for improving this type of map as a communicative tool. We have done this by first defining overview, tabular, and boundary map uses. Second, techniques for the measurement of the error components of these three uses have been developed. Third, new reiterative and forcing manipulative techniques for choroplethic map data processing have been evolved. Lastly, the relationship between map accuracy and the information carrying capacity of a choroplethic map is set forth in hypothetical terms.