Abstract
Geographic information systems (GISs) are defined as software systems. In this article, the relationships between GIS and other activities having to do with geographic information are reviewed. The use of GIS in social and behavioral sciences is discussed as an increasingly essential component of the research infrastructure and as a tool for acquiring and communicating geographic knowledge. Examples are used to discuss the importance of GIS across the social and behavioral sciences. Sources of data are reviewed, and GISs are discussed from the perspectives of client-server architectures, the Internet, Internet-based services, data archives, and digital libraries. GIS use is intimately related to the role of space in scientific explanation. The article ends with a discussion on the future of GIS.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 58-63 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780080970875 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780080970868 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 26 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Attribute
- Buffer
- Gazetteer
- Geocoding
- Geographic information
- Global positioning system
- Idiographic
- Nomothetic
- Point of interest database
- Point-in-polygon
- Polygon overlay
- Raster
- Site
- Situation
- Vector
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences