GIS 435 Statistics and Spatial Data Management

School of Environment and Geomatics

GIS 435 Statistics and Spatial Data Management is a two part course that starts with a review of essential statistical techniques and secondly focuses on statistical approaches used in spatial analyses. Emphasis will be placed on integrating practical examples into course exercises and projects. Basic statistical concepts of exploring data, probability distributions, hypothesis testing, one sample, two sample tests, regression, ANOVA, and model building will be addressed using real data and a variety of computer software. Students will explore geostatistical functions such as interpolation, point pattern analysis, kernel density estimation, kriging and trend surface analysis in the second part of the course.

Prerequisites: Acceptance to ADGIS Program/ Bachelor Degree

Corequisite: GIS 302, GIS 303, GIS 310, and GIS 318

Accessibility Services Notice

Students who would like an academic accommodation and who have a documented disability should contact Accessibility Services, if they have not already done so.

Transfer Agreements

Course to Course transfer – NoBlock Transfer – Nobctransferguide.ca
Course Details
Total number of weeks15
Total Credits
Total Hours45
Typical hours per week breakdown
Lecture3

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the learner will be able to:

  1. Recognize different data types, scales, and distributions
  2. Identify the appropriate statistical test to use for a given situation
  3. Understand the concept of data variability and how this is central to the use of statistics
  4. Manipulate datasets in different software programs enabling error checking and outlier identification
  5. Develop and use scripts to complete data exploration and analysis
  6. Produce professional quality reports that answer real statistical questions, highlighting the students’ statistical knowledge
  7. Understand geostatistical concepts, positional uncertainty of point samples and spatial analysis

Teaching and Learning Approach

The course is delivered in-person will include a mix of theory, discussion, demonstration, guided application, and independent study.

Learning Resources

Required: Crawley, M.J. 2015. Statistics: an introduction using R. West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Willey & Sons, Ltd. Available in the bookshop. Handouts and assigned readings

Detailed Course Content, Topics, and Sequence Covered

1. Course intro/ Basics/ Data manipulation/ Descriptive statistics 2. Using R/ Central tendency/ Variance 3. Hypothesis testing/ Probability distributions 4. One sample tests/ Determining sample size 5. Two sample tests 6. ANOVA tests 7. Reading Week – No Class 8. Linear regression/model building 9. Midterm test 10. Descriptive spatial statistics/ Exploratory spatial data analysis 11. Point patterns analysis/ Deterministic interpolation 12. Kriging and Kernel density estimation 13. Introduction to Final Assignment 14. Final Assignment due

Assessment

TitleLearning OutcomesValue
Task 1 Lab assignments1-770%
Task 2 Midterm test1-615%
Task 3 Final project1-715%
Total100%

Grading Table

Standard Academic and Career Programs Grading Table

PercentageLetter GradeGPA
90-100A+4.33
85-89A4.00
80-84A-3.67
76-79B+3.33
72-75B3.00
68-71B-2.67
64-67C+2.33
60-63C2.00
55-59C-1.67
50-54P1.00
0-49F0.00
DNW0.00

See the Academic Calendar for General Information including how to withdraw from course(s) and other regulations.

Disclaimer

Information contained in this course outline is correct at the time of publication. Content of the course is revised on an ongoing basis to ensure relevance to changing educational, employment and market needs. The instructor will endeavor to provide notice of changes to students as soon as possible. The instructor reserves the right to add or delete material from courses.