Publisher
IEEE COMPUTER SOCCitation
S. Nusrat, M. J. Alam and S. Kobourov, "Evaluating Cartogram Effectiveness," in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 1077-1090, Feb. 1 2018. doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2016.2642109Rights
Copyright © 2018, IEEECollection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Cartograms are maps in which areas of geographic regions, such as countries and states, appear in proportion to some variable of interest, such as population or income. Cartograms are popular visualizations for geo-referenced data that have been used for over a century to illustrate patterns and trends in the world around us. Despite the popularity of cartograms, and the large number of cartogram types, there are few studies evaluating the effectiveness of cartograms in conveying information. Based on a recent task taxonomy for cartograms, we evaluate four major types of cartograms: contiguous, non-contiguous, rectangular, and Dorling cartograms. We first evaluate the effectiveness of these cartogram types by quantitative performance analysis (time and error). Second, we collect qualitative data with an attitude study and by analyzing subjective preferences. Third, we compare the quantitative and qualitative results with the results of a metrics-based cartogram evaluation. Fourth, we analyze the results of our study in the context of cartography, geography, visual perception, and demography. Finally, we consider implications for design and possible improvements.ISSN
1077-2626PubMed ID
28029624Version
Final accepted manuscriptAdditional Links
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7792176/ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1109/TVCG.2016.2642109
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