GEOG 586
Geographic Information Analysis

Overview

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Timely submission of your final project report is worth 2 of the 30 total points available for the term-long project.

Your report should describe your progress on the project with respect to the objectives you set for yourself in the final version of your proposal. The final paper should be no longer than 20 pages inclusive of all elements specified in the list below. As a reminder, the overall sequence and organization of the report should adhere to the following headers and their content:

  • Paper Title, Name, and Abstract - Make sure your title is descriptive of your research including reference to the general data being used, geographic location, and time interval. Don’t forget to include your name! The abstract should be the revised version of your proposal (and any last minute additions or corrections based on the results of your analysis). The abstract should be no longer than 300 words.
  • Introduction - one or two paragraphs introducing the overall topic and scope, with some discussion of why the issues you are researching are worth exploring. Previous Research - provide some context on others who have looked at this same problem and their conclusions that help you and your research.
  • Methodology
    • Data - describe the data sources, any data preparation that you performed, and any issues or limitations with the data that you encountered.
    • Methods - discuss in detail the statistical methods you used, and the steps performed to carry out any statistical test. Make sure to specify the specific data that was used for each test.
  • Results - discuss the results with respect to each research objective. Be sure to reflect back on your intended research objectives, linking the results of your analysis to whether or not those objectives were met. This discussion should include any maps, table, charts, and relevant interpretations of these.
  • Reflection - reflect on how things went. What went well? What didn't work out as you had hoped? How would you do things differently if you were doing it again? What extensions of this work would be useful, time permitting?
  • References - Include a listing of all sources cited in your paper.

Other Formatting Issues

  • Use a serif type face (like Times New Roman), 1.5 line spacing, with 11pt type size. 
  • Include any graphics and maps that provide supporting evidence that contributes to your discussion. The graphics and maps should be well designed and individually numbered.
  • Tables that provide summaries of relevant data should also be included that are individually numbered and logically arranged.
  • For each graphic, map, or table, make sure to appropriately reference them from your discussion (e.g., Figure 1) so that the reader can make a connection between your discussion points and each figure or table.

Deliverables

  • Post a message announcing that your project is 'open for viewing' to the Term Project: Final Discussion discussion forum. You can upload your project report directly to the discussion forum or provide a URL to a website (e.g., Google Docs) where the project report can be found by others in the class!
  • At the same time, put a copy of the completed project in the Term Project -- Final Project Writeup drop-box.
  • Next week, the whole class will be involved in a peer-review process and discussing each other's work, so it is important that you hit this deadline to give everyone a clear opportunity to look at what you have achieved.

Questions?

Please use the 'Discussion - General Questions and Technical Help' discussion forum to ask any questions now or at any point during this project.