scholarly journals Redefining The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem Within Spatial Econometrics, The Case of the Scale Problem

Equilibrium ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Bernard Pietrzak
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Econometrics ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Spatial Analyses ◽  
Scale Problem ◽  
Areal Unit ◽  
Correct Analysis ◽  
Aggregation Problem ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Interpretation Problem

The paper focuses on the issue of the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), which is frequently discussed within spatial econometrics. This issue concerns the changeability of the characteristics of the analysed phenomena under the impact of the change in the composition of territorial units. The article indicates four conditions which need to be fulfilled if the correctness of spatial analyses is to be maintained. Also, the paper introduces the concept of the quasi composition of regions (QCR). It was defined as a set of particular compositions of territorial units for subsequent aggregation scales. Particular compositions of territorial units are selected in a way that allows a correct analysis within the undertaken research problem to be conducted. The chief asset of the paper is the proposal to redefine the concept of the modifiable areal unit problem. Both the scale problem and the aggregation problem were linked to the accepted quasi composition of regions. The redefinition of the concept is vital for the research conducted since analysing phenomena based on compositions of territorial units which are excluded from the quasi composition of regions leads to the formulation of incorrect conclusions. Within the undertaken research problem there exists only one particular composition of territorial units which allows the identification and description of the dependence for analysed phenomena. Within the considered modifiable areal unit problem two potential problems were defined and they can occur while making spatial analyses. The first is the final areal interpretation problem (FAIP) that occurs when the characteristics of phenomena or the dependence are designated for too large region. The other issue is the aggregation scale interpretation problem (ASIP). It occurs when a quasi composition of regions is enlarged by an aggregation scale where the correctness of the results of the undertaken research problem is not preserved. In both cases it is possible to reach a situation where the obtained characteristics will be deprived of the cognitive value.

scholarly journals Redefining the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem Within Spatial Econometrics, the Case of the Aggregation Problem

Equilibrium ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-151
Author(s):  
Michał Bernard Pietrzak
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Econometrics ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Average Concentration ◽  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Areal Unit ◽  
Aggregation Problem ◽  
Interpretation Problem

The paper focuses on the issue of the aggregation problem, which is frequently discussed within spatial econometrics. The aggregation problem is one of the two aspects of the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP). The aggregation problem is connected with the volatility of the obtained results occurred when various compositions of territorial units for the same aggregation scale were applied. The objective of the present paper is to consider the redefinition of aggregation problem and showing positive solution of the aggregation problem based on the empirical example of determining agricultural macroregions. In the article the aggregation problem was defined as a problem of establishing a particular composition of territorial units at a selected aggregation scale in a such a way that is remains in the quasi composition of regions within the undertaken research problem. The paper also presented the procedure for determining agricultural macroregions where the analysis of the spatial volatility of the agrarian structure and the current knowledge on the agriculture in Poland were applied. In addition, the paper considered the final areal interpretation problem connected with the incorrect determination of the area in relation to which final conclusions are drawn. The problem was presented basing on the example of the establishment of the average concentration of the area of agricultural land in Poland with the use of the Gini index calculated for districts. The paper emphasised that ignoring the final areal interpretation problem in spatial analyses may lead to an apparent identification of the modifiable areal unit problem.

scholarly journals Overcoming inefficiencies arising due to the impact of the modifiable areal unit problem on single-aggregation disease maps

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Tuson ◽  
Matthew Yap ◽  
Mei Ruu Kok ◽  
Bryan Boruff ◽  
Kevin Murray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Disease Mapping ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Areal Unit ◽  
Resource Allocation Efficiency ◽  
Fine Resolution ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Single Set

Abstract Background In disease mapping, fine-resolution spatial health data are routinely aggregated for various reasons, for example to protect privacy. Usually, such aggregation occurs only once, resulting in ‘single-aggregation disease maps’ whose representation of the underlying data depends on the chosen set of aggregation units. This dependence is described by the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP). Despite an extensive literature, in practice, the MAUP is rarely acknowledged, including in disease mapping. Further, despite single-aggregation disease maps being widely relied upon to guide distribution of healthcare resources, potential inefficiencies arising due to the impact of the MAUP on such maps have not previously been investigated. Results We introduce the overlay aggregation method (OAM) for disease mapping. This method avoids dependence on any single set of aggregate-level mapping units through incorporating information from many different sets. We characterise OAM as a novel smoothing technique and show how its use results in potentially dramatic improvements in resource allocation efficiency over single-aggregation maps. We demonstrate these findings in a simulation context and through applying OAM to a real-world dataset: ischaemic stroke hospital admissions in Perth, Western Australia, in 2016. Conclusions The ongoing, widespread lack of acknowledgement of the MAUP in disease mapping suggests that unawareness of its impact is extensive or that impact is underestimated. Routine implementation of OAM can help avoid resource allocation inefficiencies associated with this phenomenon. Our findings have immediate worldwide implications wherever single-aggregation disease maps are used to guide health policy planning and service delivery.

scholarly journals The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem – Analysis of Correlation and Regression

Equilibrium ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 113-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Bernard Pietrzak
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Problem Analysis ◽  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Scale Problem ◽  
Major Research ◽  
Areal Unit ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Level Of Aggregation ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Economic Analyses

The paper focuses on the issue of the modifiable areal unit problem, which means a possibility of obtaining various results for spatial economic analyses depending on the assumed composition of territorial units. The major research objective of the work is to examine the scale problem that constitutes one of the aspects of the modifiable areal unit problem. Analysis of the scale problem will be conducted for two research problems, namely, for the problem of the causal relationships between the level of investment outlays in enterprises per capita and the number of entities of the national economy per capita, and the issue of the dependence between the registered unemployment rate and the level of investment outlays per capita. The calculations based on the empirical values of those variables have showed that moving to a higher level of aggregation resulted in a change in the estimates of the parameters. The results obtained were the justification for undertaking the realisation of the objective. The scale problem was considered by means of a simulation analysis with a special emphasis laid on differentiating the variables expressed in absolute quantities and ones expressed in relative quantities. The study conducted allowed the identification of changes in basic properties as well as in correlation of the researched variables expressed in absolute and relative quantities. Based on the findings, it was stated that a correlation analysis and a regression analysis may lead to different conclusions depending on the assumed level of aggregation. The realisation of the research objective set in the paper also showed the need to consider the adequate character of variables in both spatial economic analyses and during the examination of the scale problem.

scholarly journals Reducing bias in multivariate analyses due to the modifiable areal unit problem.

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Tuson ◽  
Mei Ruu Kok ◽  
Matthew Yap ◽  
Alistair Vickery ◽  
Bryan Boruff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Service Utilization ◽  
Health Service Utilization ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Areal Unit ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionThe Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) arises from the aggregation of data organized by spatially defined boundaries. Aggregated values are influenced by the shape (zone effect) and scale of the aggregated units. Aggregations of the same data using different zones or scales can give different analytical results, none reliable. Objectives and ApproachUsing population-level administrative health data in Western Australia, the objectives were to: accurately measure the association between health service utilization and demographic, socio-economic, and service accessibility variables; and develop models to accurately forecast areas of high health service utilization into the future. Multiple zone designs and aggregation scales were used to examine the impact of MAUP in association studies. These zone designs and scales were then used in all-subset model selection processes, combined with repeated k-fold cross-validation, to generate forecast maps of areas having high future rates of health service utilization. ResultsThe impact of the MAUP and methods to reduce this bias in association studies will be presented, for both simple and complex model designs. Maps indicating gradients of predicted probabilities of high rate of health service demand in the future can be used to optimize the placement of services, through the use of catchment areas based on road-network travel distance and population distributions. Conclusion/ImplicationsThe impact of the MAUP on the analysis of spatially-aggregated data has been considered intractable. However, methods to reduce the impact of the MAUP can improve policy and planning decisions based on such studies.

scholarly journals Modifiable Areal Unit Problem: the issue of determining the relationship between microparameters and a macroparameter

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-417
Author(s):  
Michał Barnard Pietrzak
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Homogeneous System ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
Areal Unit ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Research background: One of the issues considered by economists such as Tinbergen (1939), Klein (1946), May, (1946), Theil (1965), Pawłowski (1969), Bołt et al. (1985) was to determine the mechanism of transition between the results of microeconomics and the theory of macroeconomics. As part of this research, Pawłowski (1969) raised the problem of establishing the relationship between microparameters and a macroparameter. In the presented article, Pawłowski's problem was expanded to include spatial economic research, where micro-dependencies and spatial macro-dependencies were analysed. Purpose of the article: The purpose of the article is to establish the relationship between the microparameters set for SGM agricultural macroregions and the macroparameter referring to the whole area of Poland, where the parameters describe the economic dependencies regarding the impact of the size of farms in established region on their technical equipment. In the study, the economic relationships analysed in the case of individual SGM agricultural macroregions were defined as spatial micro-dependencies, and in the case of the entire area of Poland as spatial macro-dependencies. Methods: The methodological part of the article describes the concepts of Modifiable Areal Unit Problem, causal homogeneity of spatial data, homogeneous system of sets of areal units, area and sub-areas of conclusions. The concepts of micro-dependencies and spatial macro-dependencies are presented. Basic equations allowing to determine the evaluation of the spatial macroparameter as a linear combination of spatial microparameters were also presented. Findings & Value added: In the first stage of the study, spatial micro-dependencies were identified for subsequent SGM agricultural macroregions. In the second stage of the study, the relationship between spatial microparameters for single macroregions and the spatial macroparameter for Poland was determined. Establishing the relationship allowed to determine the macroparameter estimate for the whole area of Poland.

The Effect of Information Technology on Fluidity of Contemporary Architectural Space

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-72
Author(s):  
Shatha Abbas Hassan ◽  
Noor Ali Aljorani
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Architectural Space ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Ease Of Access ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Role Of Information

The increasing importance of the information revolution and terms such as ‘speed’, ‘disorientation’, and ‘changing the concept of distance’, has provided us with tools that had not been previously available. Technological developments are moving toward Fluidity, which was previously unknown and cannot be understood through modern tools. With acceleration of the rhythm in the age we live in and the clarity of the role of information technology in our lives, as also the ease of access to information, has helped us to overcome many difficulties. Technology in all its forms has had a clear impact on all areas of daily life, and it has a clear impact on human thought in general, and the architectural space in particular, where the architecture moves from narrow spaces and is limited to new spaces known as the ‘breadth’, and forms of unlimited and stability to spaces characterized with fluidity. The research problem (the lack of clarity of knowledge about the impact of vast information flow associated with the technology of the age in the occurrence of liquidity in contemporary architectural space) is presented here. The research aims at defining fluidity and clarifying the effect of information technology on the changing characteristics of architectural space from solidity to fluidity. The research follows the analytical approach in tracking the concept of fluidity in physics and sociology to define this concept and then to explain the effect of Information Technology (IT) to achieve the fluidity of contemporary architectural space, leading to an analysis of the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) architectural model. The research concludes that information technology achieves fluidity through various tools (communication systems, computers, automation, and artificial intelligence). It has changed the characteristics of contemporary architectural space and made it behave like an organism, through using smart material.

Impacto de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones: Una mirada en la Educación Superior

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Virginia Mero Suárez ◽  
Edwin Joao Merchán Carreño ◽  
Ana Del Rocío Fernández Torres ◽  
Narcisa María Crespo Torres
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Educación Superior ◽  
Educational Design ◽  
Educacion Superior ◽  
The Impact

El artículo aborda la necesidad de la creatividad que se impone en la era actual del conocimiento y la importancia que  constituyen las tecnologías como herramientas indispensables en todas las esferas de la vida. En Trabajo toma como campo investigativo los cambios que se llevan a cabo en esta esfera en la Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí y la Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo, Ecuador, donde se toman como objeto el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en la Educación Superior. El objetivo de la investigación fue comunicar el impacto de las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones en las Universidades, donde se hace énfasis en el nuevo rol de los docentes y su nuevo desempeño de facilitadores del aprendizaje en los educandos a través en los nuevos escenarios mediados por las tecnologías. Para el desarrollo exitoso de esta memoria investigativa se   usó como metodología instrumentos que se basaron fundamentalmente en documentos referativos que ayudaron a justificar el problema de investigación, el cual consistía fundamentalmente en el impacto de las nuevos  dispositivos tecnológicos y su utilidad en los centros de altos estudios del país. Se concluyó que las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación son herramientas indispensables en la docencia y al mismo tiempo la forma de intervenir en el diseño educativo que nos llevan a explorar nuevos métodos docentes en los escenarios educativos mediados por estas. Se constató además que estas herramientas favorecen satisfactoriamente al proceso si se tiene una buena preparación por parte del docente.   Palabras clave: Herramientas tecnológicas, universidades, formación, docencia universitaria, proceso de enseñanza – aprendizaje Impact of information technology and communications: a look at higher education  Abstract The article states the need of the creativity that prevails in the current era of knowledge and the importance that technologies constitute in all spheres of life. In field research work it takes as changes take place in this area in Southern State University of Manabí and the Technical University of Babahoyo, Ecuador, where they are taken as an object the process of learning in higher education. The aim of the research was to communicate the impact of Information Technology and Communications in the universities, where the emphasis is on the new role of teachers and their new performance of facilitators of learning in students through the new scenarios mediated by technologies. For the successful development of this research report it was used as a methodology instruments based mainly on referative documents that helped to justify the research problem, which consisted mainly of the impact of new technological devices and their use in the centers of higher learning in the country. It was concluded that information technology and communication are indispensable tools in teaching and at the same time how to intervene in the educational design that lead us to explore new teaching methods in educational settings mediated by these. It was further found that these tools successfully promote the process if there is a good preparation by the teacher.

Modifiable Areal Unit Problem

2021 ◽  
pp. 854-855
Author(s):  
Martin A. Andresen
Keyword(s):  
Modifiable Areal Unit Problem ◽  
Areal Unit
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