B .A. / B.Sc. (Hons) III Semester (CBCS) 
            GGB3P1: STATISTICAL METHODS IN GEOGRAPHY 
       UNIT 1: USE OF DATA IN GEOGRAPHY 
        
       Topic: Geographical Data Matrix (GDM)  
       Statistics is a branch of science that deals with the collection, organisation, analysis of data and 
       drawing of inferences from the samples to the whole population. This requires a proper design of 
       the study, an appropriate selection of the study sample and choice of a suitable statistical test.  
                          Or 
       Statistics is the science of quantitative data. According to Seligman, “ Statistics is the science 
       which deals with the methods of collecting, classifying, presenting, comparing and interpreting 
       numerical data collected to throw light on any sphere of enquiry”. The statistical method is a 
       comprehensive  term  which  includes  almost  all  methods  involved  in  collection,  processing, 
       condensing, analyzing, presenting and interpreting the data.  
       Geographical Data  
       Geographical or spatial data are defined as undigested, unorganized, and unevaluated material 
       that can be associated with a location. Geographical data include facts, results of observations, 
       original remote sensing images, basic census figures and statistics all of which are gathered and 
       communicated to the user. Data are of little value in or of themselves. To be useful they must be 
       transformed into information. When data are organized, presented, analyzed, interpreted and 
       considered  useful  for  a  particular  decision  problem,  they  become  information.  Accordingly, 
       geographical information is defined as georeferenced data that have been processed into a form 
       that is meaningful and of real or perceived value to decision makers. 
                    Forms of Geographical Data 
             
             
              Document form       • Text Paragarph 
               Numeric Form       • Table 
                                  • Semi-table 
                Digital Form      • Digital data of aerial photographs  
                                  • Digital data of satellite imagery  
                                  • Graphs 
              Graphical Form      • Diagrams 
                                  • Areial Photographs 
                                  • Satellite imagery 
                                                                      
          Geographical Data Matrix (GDM)  
          Geographic  data posses two distinct components- Location and attributes at locations, and the 
          geographical data matrix is perhaps the most logical way to represent the real world. It is a major 
          milestone in the development of data organization methods in scientific geographical studies. In 
          the  GDM,  a  column  represents  the  variation  of  attributes  of  the  natural  or  socio-economic 
          characteristic across some geographical spaces. Thus, basically it shows spatial pattern of the 
          variables  that  can  be  identified  and  mapped.    A  row,  on  the  other  hand,  denotes  a  specific 
          location in geographic space.  Therefore, each cell formed by the rows and columns of GDM 
          contains a specific item of geographic fact that can be found at a particular location. In a GDM, 
          the  column  can  be  compared  to  study  the  nature  of  spatial  variation  of  the  geographic 
          characteristics.  
          Dimensions of Geographic Data 
          Data Source:  
             1.  where are the data coming from? 
             2.  Who colleted it? 
             3.  Who distributed it? 
                 4.  What collection methods were used? 
              Location: to where do the data pertain? 
              Level of aggregation: are the observations individual entities or groups of entities 
              Decimals- are the data values discrete or continuous? 
              Descriptive vs. measured: are the data numerical or categorical? 
              Example: 
              To be analysable with statistical tools, data needs to be presented as a rectangular data matrix. 
              Each  column  in  a  data  matrix  contains  a variable (indicator,  measurement,  questions  in  a 
              survey...) and each row an observation (case)  
               
               
                                                  ROW  
               
                         Country Name      GDP                     Literacy Rate  
                 n       A                 Value                   Value  
                olum     B                 Value                   Value  
                C        C                 Value                   Value  
                         D                 Value                   Value