GIS for empirical research design: An illustration with georeferenced point data.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kogure K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6398843 | biostudies-literature | 2019
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
GIS for empirical research design: An illustration with georeferenced point data.
Kogure Katsuo K Takasaki Yoshito Y
PloS one 20190304 3
This paper demonstrates how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be utilized to study the effects of spatial phenomena. Since experimental designs such as Randomized Controlled Trials are generally not feasible for spatial problems, researchers need to rely on quasi-experimental approaches using observational data. We provide a regression-based framework of the key procedures for GIS-based empirical research design using georeferenced point data for both spatial events of interest and subjec ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:Before pushbroom hyperspectral imaging (HSI) data can be applied in remote sensing applications, it must typically be preprocessed through radiometric correction, atmospheric compensation, geometric correction and spatial resampling procedures. After these preprocessing procedures, HSI data are conventionally given as georeferenced raster images. The raster data model compromises the spatial-spectral integrity of HSI data, leading to suboptimal results in various applications. Inamdar et al. (2021) developed a point cloud data format, the Directly-Georeferenced Hyperspectral Point Cloud (DHPC), that preserves the spatial-spectral integrity of HSI data more effectively than rasters. The DHPC is generated through a data fusion workflow that uses conventional preprocessing protocols with a modification to the digital surface model used in the geometric correction. Even with the additional elevation information, the DHPC is still stored with file sizes up to 13 times smaller than conventional rasters, making it ideal for data distribution. Our article aims to describe the DHPC data fusion workflow from Inamdar et al. (2021), providing all the required tools for its integration in pre-existing processing workflows. This includes a MATLAB script that can be readily applied to carry out the modification that must be made to the digital surface model used in the geometric correction. The MATLAB script first derives the point spread function of the HSI data and then convolves it with the digital surface model input in the geometric correction. By breaking down the MATLAB script and describing its functions, data providers can readily develop their own implementation if necessary. The derived point spread function is also useful for characterizing HSI data, quantifying the contribution of materials to the spectrum from any given pixel as a function of distance from the pixel center. Overall, our work makes the implementation of the DHPC data fusion workflow transparent and approachable for end users and data providers.•Our article describes the Directly-Georeferenced Hyperspectral Point Cloud (DHPC) data fusion workflow, which can be readily implemented with existing processing protocols by modifying the input digital surface model used in the geometric correction.•We provide a MATLAB function that performs the modification to the digital surface model required for the DHPC workflow. This MATLAB script derives the point spread function of the hyperspectral imager and convolves it with the digital surface model so that the elevation data are more spatially consistent with the hyperspectral imaging data as collected.•We highlight the increased effectiveness of the DHPC over conventional raster end products in terms of spatial-spectral data integrity, data storage requirements, hyperspectral imaging application results and site exploration via virtual and augmented reality.
| S-EPMC8374691 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Built environment (BE) data in geographic information system (GIS) format are increasingly available from public agencies and private providers. These data can provide objective, low-cost BE data over large regions and are often used in public health research and surveillance. Yet challenges exist in repurposing GIS data for health research. The GIS data do not always capture desired constructs; the data can be of varying quality and completeness; and the data definitions, structures, and spatial representations are often inconsistent across sources. Using the Small Town Walkability study as an illustration, we describe (a) the range of BE characteristics measurable in a GIS that may be associated with active living, (b) the availability of these data across nine U.S. small towns, (c) inconsistencies in the GIS BE data that were available, and (d) strategies for developing accurate, complete, and consistent GIS BE data appropriate for research. Based on a conceptual framework and existing literature, objectively measurable characteristics of the BE potentially related to active living were classified under nine domains: generalized land uses, morphology, density, destinations, transportation system, traffic conditions, neighborhood behavioral conditions, economic environment, and regional location. At least some secondary GIS data were available across all nine towns for seven of the nine BE domains. Data representing high-resolution or behavioral aspects of the BE were often not available. Available GIS BE data - especially tax parcel data - often contained varying attributes and levels of detail across sources. When GIS BE data were available from multiple sources, the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of the data could be reasonable ensured for use in research. But this required careful attention to the definition and spatial representation of the BE characteristic of interest. Manipulation of the secondary source data was often required, which was facilitated through protocols.
| S-EPMC5404746 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Harvesting has received most theoretical, empirical, and policy attention towards understanding common-pool resource dilemmas. Yet, pre-harvesting and post-harvesting activities influence harvesting outcomes as well. Broadening the analytical focus beyond harvesting is needed to imagine new ways of theorizing and governing the commons. Fishing-which is synonymous with harvesting-is a case in point. We contribute to a beyond-harvesting research agenda by incorporating concepts from common-pool resources theory that have not received enough attention in the literature. We compare two ubiquitous self-organizing strategies (i.e., fishing cooperatives and patron-client relationships) fishers use to access means of production and analyze their effects on the distribution of benefits resulting from harvesting. We use rarely available longitudinal data of monetary loans to fishers in Mexican small-scale fisheries and find that cooperatives can deliver broader distribution of benefits than patron-client relationships. Our study highlights the importance of historically and contextually situating analyses linking the effects of pre-harvesting processes on harvesting outcomes, and the benefits of broadening the scope of inquiry beyond a narrow policy attention on harvesting to move towards a fuller understanding of commons dilemmas.
| S-EPMC7179885 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Pooled CRISPR screening with high sensitivity using empirically designed sgRNAs
| PRJEB35190 | ENA
Project description:Open government data (OGD) holds great potential for firms and the digital economy as a whole and has attracted increasing interest in research and practice in recent years. Governments and organizations worldwide are struggling in exploiting the full potential of OGD and require a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon. Although scientific debates in OGD research are intense and heterogeneous, the field lacks theoretical integration of OGD topics and their systematic consideration in the context of the digital economy. In addition, OGD has been widely neglected by information systems (IS) research, which promises great potential for advancing our knowledge of the OGD concept and its role in the digital economy. To fill in this gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review of 169 empirical OGD studies. In doing so, we develop a theoretical review framework of Antecedents, Decisions, Outcomes (ADO) to unify and grasp the accumulating isolated evidence on OGD in context of the digital economy and provide a theory-informed research agenda to tap the potential of IS research for OGD. Our findings reveal six related key topic clusters of OGD research and substantial gaps, opening up prospective research avenues and particularly outlining how IS research can inform and advance OGD research.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12525-022-00582-8.
| S-EPMC9487844 | biostudies-literature
Project description:When attempting to answer questions of interest, scientists often encounter hurdles that may stem from limited access to existing adequate datasets as a consequence of poor data sharing practices, constraining administrative practices. Further, when attempting to integrate data, differences in existing datasets also impose challenges that limit opportunities for data integration. As a result, the pace of scientific advancements is suboptimal. Synthetic data and virtual cohorts generated using innovative computational techniques represent an opportunity to overcome some of these limitations and consequently, to advance scientific developments. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of virtual cohorts techniques to generate a synthetic dataset that mirrors a deeply phenotyped sample of preclinical dementia research participants.
| S-EPMC8165312 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The data describes Christian mission stations established in Ghana 1752-1932. Data is reported at an annual basis. For all 2,144 mission stations, the data includes station name, denomination, circuity, longitude, latitude, year of entry, exit, whether the station is a main or out-station, and whether it had a school attached. For sub-periods the data also includes information on the number of church members, attendance and seat capacity. The data was mainly sourced from ecclesiastical returns provided by the mission societies and published in the British Blue Books of the Gold Coast 1844-1932. The source represents a comprehensive census of missions. Various other sources were consulted to extend the data base to Ghana's first mission (1752), to include missions from German Togoland incorporated into Ghana after World War I, and to account for years, for which no Blue Books have survived. Mission stations were then georeferenced based on the place name where the mission is located. Coordinates were retrieved from NGA place name gazetteer as well as other sources. The data can be used to study patterns in and effects of Christianization in Ghana. The geographic coordinates of the mission stations allow researchers to flexibly link the data to other spatio-temporal databases. The data has been used in: Jedwab, R., F. Meier zu Selhausen and A. Moradi (2021). Christianization without economic development: Evidence from missions in Ghana.'' Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 190: 573-596.
| S-EPMC8503588 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To examine the effect of variable selection strategies on the performance of propensity score (PS) methods in a study of statin initiation, mortality, and hip fracture assuming a true mortality reduction of < 15% and no effect on hip fracture.We compared seniors initiating statins with seniors initiating glaucoma medications. Out of 202 covariates with a prevalence > 5%, PS variable selection strategies included none, a priori, factors predicting exposure, and factors predicting outcome. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for statin initiation on mortality and hip fracture from Cox models controlling for various PSs.During 1 year follow-up, 2693 of 55,610 study subjects died and 496 suffered a hip fracture. The crude HR for statin initiators was 0.64 for mortality and 0.46 for hip fracture. Adjusting for the non-parsimonious PS yielded effect estimates of 0.83 (95%CI:0.75-0.93) and 0.72 (95%CI:0.56-0.93). Including in the PS only covariates associated with a greater than 20% increase or reduction in outcome rates yielded effect estimates of 0.84 (95%CI:0.75-0.94) and 0.76 (95%CI:0.61-0.95), which were closest to the effects predicted from randomized trials.Due to the difficulty of pre-specifying all potential confounders of an exposure-outcome association, data-driven approaches to PS variable selection may be useful. Selecting covariates strongly associated with exposure but unrelated to outcome should be avoided, because this may increase bias. Selecting variables for PS based on their association with the outcome may help to reduce such bias.
| S-EPMC3123427 | biostudies-literature
Project description:With point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices becoming increasingly available to untrained users, it will be critical to understand how real-world user behavior can best inform and guide the engineering design process. Social sciences present frameworks for analyzing user behavior, but they have not yet been applied to POC diagnostics in a methodical manner. Here, we develop a framework that synthesizes two models that can collectively account for user behavior and experience with POC diagnostic devices: a social psychological information-motivation-behavior (IMB) model (first described by Fisher and Fisher) for identifying determinants for health-related behavior, and user experience (UX) elements for studying interactions between users and products. Based on studies of 40 naïve users of our smartphone-enabled microfluidics device that can be used for HIV home-testing, we found that untrained participants could perform 90% of steps correctly, with engineering design elements that provided feedback that was either direct (e.g., a light or click) or binary (e.g., a switch) enhancing usability. Interestingly, of the steps performed incorrectly, over 70% were due not to errors in the device or user operation, but user-to-user variability (e.g. time in collecting fingerstick and force applied to initiate vacuum), which could be addressed by further modifications to the device. Overall, this study suggests that microfluidic POC HIV home-testing is likely to benefit from smartphone integration, and that engineering design of POC diagnostic devices can benefit from a structured evaluation of user behavior and experience, as guided by a social-psychological framework, which emphasizes user credibility, accessibility, acceptability, usability, and value.
| S-EPMC6592761 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Analyses of profile similarity are widespread in personality psychology, but their apparent simplicity masks difficult psychometric and statistical issues. We present a psychometric framework that addresses an important challenge (i.e., profile normativeness) in examinations of dyadic exchangeable profiles. In addition, we present an analytic strategy accounting for non-independence that often arises in analyses of profile similarity, facilitating integrated examinations of variables at dyadic and individual levels. An empirical analysis of personality similarity and relationship quality demonstrates that the model and analytic strategy can reveal novel psychological insights. These are important advances, as previous work has ignored exchangeable profiles and has failed to present an integrated psychometric and statistical framework for profile similarity.
| S-EPMC3771326 | biostudies-literature