Data Classification Methods: Senior Citizens in Miami-Dade County

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There are six common data classification methods used when creating thematic maps. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages, and whichever method the map creator chooses can lead to significant differences in the map output. If an inappropriate classification method is selected, maps will be inaccurate at best and could potentially be outright misleading. 

In this lab, we used 2010 census data from Miami-Dade County to compare and contrast four of the six most common data classification methods: Equal Interval, Quantile, Standard Deviation, and Natural Breaks. The first map shows the percentage of senior citizens by census tract using these four methods, and the second map shows the normalized count of senior citizens per census tract. 











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