Project 3: Finishing Up

Deliverables

For Project 3, the items you are required to submit are as follows:

• First, create figures of the different point patterns you generated in Part A according to different random processes with accompanying commentary that explains the patterns that were created
• Second, create density maps of three of the available crime datasets (homicide + 2 of your choice) , experimenting with the kernel density bandwidth, and provide a commentary discussing the most suitable bandwidth choice for this analysis visualization method.
• Third, perform point pattern analyses in Part B on three of the available crime datasets (homicide + 2 of your choice). It would be beneficial if you would choose crimes with contrasting patterns. Crimes with low counts will not produce very compelling patterns and the analysis techniques will not be meaningful.

• Use the questions below to help you think about and synthesize the results from the various analyses you completed in this project:

  • What were your overall findings about crime in your study area?
  • Where did crimes take place? Was there a particular spatial distribution associated with each of the crimes? Did they take place in a particular part of the city?
  • Did the different crimes you assessed cluster in different parts of the study area or did they occur in the same parts of the city?
  • What additional types of analysis would be useful?
  • Another part of spatial analysis is centered on ethical considerations about the data, which include but are not limited to: who collected the data and what hidden (or overt) messages are contained within the data?
    • Consdier that the St. Louis dataset contains roughly a year's worth of crime data leading up to the protests that took place in Ferguson, MO during August 2014. Here is one news reporting of that event.
    • Data are inherently contrived by the individuals and organizations that collect, format, and then make data available for use.
    • As the analyst for this project, comment on the ethical considerations that you shojuld take when formatting, analyzing, and reporting the results for Lesson 3? Knowing that the data included possible events leading up to the Ferguson protests, what kinds of decisions would you make in analyzing the data in Lesson 2?
    • Remember that data is not simply binary or a listing of numbers, but can be a complex set of biases and injustices that may be opaque to the user.