Lecture-Discussion 7 – Cities and Urban Life – Ant 201 I suggest that you make a list/ outline of activities, persons, places , streets, downtown, sections, addresses etc., “spaces” ,significant in your life. Build your “cognitive map” (P. 203 of text ) for Question 2 out of your list/outline. Also, maybe make several maps. //////////////////////////// Here are internet links for test question 3 on City of Beijing social space : Urban Geography Volume 26, 2005 - Issue 2: The City of Transition and the Transition of Cities Ihttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2747/0272-3638.26.2.167 The Structure of Social Space in Beijing in 1998: A Socialist City in Transition Chaolin Gu,Fahui Wang &Guili Liu Pages 167-192 | Published online: 16 May 2013 Download citation https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.26.2.167 Sample our Urban Studies journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions Get access More Share Options Abstract The 1984 urban reforms in China introduced an urban land market and a housing market to Chinese cities and had profound impacts on urban structures. Using data from a 1998 survey and other sources in Beijing at the subdistrict (jiedao) level, this research found that differentiations of social areas were taking place in Beijing after over a decade of urban reforms. Unlike western cities with socioeconomic status and family status as dominant forces in forming social areas, Beijing began to experience the impact of differentiation of socioeconomic status (e.g., income gaps), and the family structure factor was ineffective in Beijing because of decades of family planning. Factor analysis revealed four factors that underlay the social-spatial structure in Beijing: (1) land-use intensity as the dominant factor displaying a concentric zonal pattern, (2) neighborhood dynamics, mainly composed of the floating population ratio, featuring a sectoral pattern, (3) socioeconomic status exhibiting a combination of sectoral and zonal patterns, and (4) ethnicity resembling a multiple nuclei pattern. Superimposing the four factors generated a complex urban mosaic in Beijing. Cluster analysis was used to classify the subdistricts into nine different social areas. Social-spatial structure of Beijing: a spatial-temporal analysis https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264440761_Social-spatial_structure_of_Beijing_a_spatial-temporal_analysis AN ANALYSE OF CHINESE URBAN PUBLIC SPACE –Beijing as an Example https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:832693/FULLTEXT01.pdf /////////////// With 4th of July coming up, note that one of Detroit’s main /backbone Avenues is Jefferson Avenue named after Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. The cities “ideologists” have been patriotic, of course. Statues are built objects expressing a city’s historical legacy and consciousness, especially political consciousness . There is a statue of George Washington in the middle of downtown on Jefferson. Civil War Union Army figures are downtown and on Belle Isle . Recently a statue of Christopher Columbus on Jefferson was moved to storage of by the City of Detroit. As modern cities are significantly automobile/vehicle cultures ( see text) , parking lots make up a chunk of the built space of urban areas. Car races are coming back to downtown Detroit from a stint on Belle Isle. Urban “ stimulation” through entertainment with big crowds. Of course , the July 4th fireworks are the same” stimulation” that the text draws to our attention. Baseball , apple pie and Chevrolet. Another form of urban network, are the television and radio local network areas. What are your local television and radio stations ? //////////////// Related to Lynch’s five image elements (P.201 of the text), was Lynch’s evidence anecdotal ? Did he have to take a representative sample in the statistical sense to make valid generalizations ? (THESE ARE NOT TEST QUESTIONS) _Statistically_ significant data is necessary for sociologists , historians, geographers, economists, and anthropologists to claim that their generalizations about cities and society are true. Below is a brief discussion of statistics in sociology. Also, university and thinktank social scientists get much of their statistical data from government agencies such as the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, City tax bureaus, federal reserve On statistics in sociology (THIS MATERIAL WILL NOT BE TESTED): https://www.sociologygroup.com/sociology-statistics-examples/ “The Introduction: The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term “statistics” as “a branch of mathematics which deals with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data.” The definition is very apt in what needs to be conveyed. There are three basic methods of research which are most commonly used by the sociologists in their studies. They are as follows: Observational Techniques Surveys Experiment The way that this data is collected and analyzed is through numeric digits. The findings of the sociologists are kept in numeric terms as to gather the data under a certain form of measurement. Every research yields a set of numbers which is then processed in order to gather findings regarding the experiment. It becomes very essential to convert this data in terms which other scientists and laymen can understand. The interpretation of this data becomes utmost necessary as it serves as proof as well as a stepping stone for new studies or research. The data needs to searched thoroughly as to see what factors affect it and what factors don’t, a set of variables need to be accounted for to make the study a success. The checking of the effect of experimental manipulations may be done too as to figure out how credible the data and experiment is. Representation of Data The most used data analysis technique in statistics is frequency distribution; it basically indicates the frequency of each score in a set of scores. The elementary function of a frequency distribution is to provide information regarding the number of occurrences of a given set of values (numeric) over a given period of time. These values are spread over the list, table or graphical representation and are classified as either grouped or ungrouped. The data is grouped using this and the relevance of each group is analyzed, hence making it easier to find patterns. The case of dependent and independent variables is very important to understand as they tend to decide the course over which the experiment will go. A good experiment needs to have these variables as they decide what sort of relationship is being mapped. The best way to analyze the independent and dependent relationship is through a line graph. There is a variety of graphs used by sociologists to make the laymen understand the relevance and findings of the experiment, for example, histograms, pie charts, etc. Line graphs showcase the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Graphical Representation The concept of graphical representation gives more impact to the findings of the statistical study as it helps the observer what the study wants to show and in terms which are easier for everyone to understand. There are a variety of graphs through which data is represented and each of these graphs is used for a specific representation. A graph also saves a lot of time as the observations are right in front of the observer and hence it becomes easier to find the relation between the sets of data provided. There is no need for any prior knowledge so it is understood by a larger group of people. A comparison can be done between the data in the form of graphs and the data can be understood more carefully. The graphs help define the statistical analysis of the data as they show the various aspects of the statistics, for instance, a graph showing the mean, median and mode becomes easier to understand. Also, the interpretation and extrapolation of the data become easier. There are some rules regarding graphical representation which need to be strictly followed in order to get the desirable results for the experiment. The graph should always be titled as to understand what it is trying to convey and the measurement unit of the graph should be mentioned. There should be a proper scale to the graph along with an index. The graph should be made in the simplest manner as possible as it increases the probability of people to understand. It should be neat so no confusion may occur while analyzing it. The sources of the graph are very essential as the graph is only credible when the data it is formed from is credible. Descriptive Statistics The descriptive statistics are used to summarize a given set of data set; this can be a representation of the entire work sample or a given part of it. The basic job of descriptive statistics is to help describe and understand the features of a specific data set by giving summaries of the data set. There are two basic measures through which the descriptive statistics are measured; they are central tendency and variability. The central tendency keeps three aspects, mean, median and mode, the model describes the most recurring set of data, the median shows the middle score whereas the mean is the arithmetic average of the scores. The variability represents how dispersed a set of scores are, the variance is then calculated which is the average of the squared deviations from the mean of the scores. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance. The data can be measured by interpreting the shape of the curve which can tell the observer as to how the data is being managed. There is basically the normal curve and the bell-shaped curve through which one can easily observe the correlation of the data. Correlational Statistics It becomes essential to observe the relationship between two or more set of scores. This is where the concept of correlation statistics comes in, it shows whether and how strongly pairs of variables are related. Some correlations are very obvious to analyze, to even the naked eye, but there are correlations which showcase many unexpected relationships between the sets of data. It also shows the degree of the correlations as to whether they are strong or weak. The more intelligent correlations are made, the more the understanding of the data set grows. The correlations are mapped on scatter graphs as it becomes easier to observe the trends and correlations. The most effective technique used to find the correlations between data is Pearson’s product-moment correlation. The techniques help calculate the Pearson coefficient which helps show the nature of the correlation in a given set of data. There is a specific range, i.e. -1 to +1, through which the relations may be accounted for. If one gets a 0 as a Pearson coefficient then there is no relation between the data, a number above 0 indicates a positive relationship whereas a number below 0 showcases a negative relationship. Inferential Statistics It is one of the two main branches in the field of statistics. The fundamental reason to employ an inferential statistical study is to analyze whether the findings of the research may be generalized from their samples to the population that they represent. The job of inferential statistics comes in when it becomes hard to analyze and take into account the whole sample size needed for the research. For instance, in a nail manufacturing factory, if one needs to measure the diameter of each nail, it would be very hard to measure every nail. Hence, a generalized sample size of the nails and their diameter is taken, and a general observation is made regarding the same. The Conclusion It becomes very essential in sociology to carry out a statistical study as the research is very quantitative; hence it requires a correct mathematical procedure to generate results which are reliable. The statistical analysis and study provide the sociologist to share their data in terms for everyone to understand as well as form a case for further studies in the same field. Sources: McGraw Hill. (2001). Statistics Primer for Sociology. http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/sociology/statistics/stat_intro.htm Crossman, Ashley. “An Introduction to Sociology Statistics.” ThoughtCo, Feb. 5, 2019, thoughtco.com/introduction-to-statistics-3026701. 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