Hungarian survey on the use of cartograms in school cartography

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1 International Journal of Cartography ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: Hungarian survey on the use of cartograms in school cartography José Jesús Reyes Nuñez & Barbara Juhász To cite this article: José Jesús Reyes Nuñez & Barbara Juhász (2015) Hungarian survey on the use of cartograms in school cartography, International Journal of Cartography, 1:1, 5-17, DOI: / To link to this article: Published online: 08 Jul Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1067 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at Download by: [ ] Date: 17 December 2017, At: 13:40

2 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARTOGRAPHY, 2015 VOL. 1, NO. 1, Hungarian survey on the use of cartograms in school cartography José Jesús Reyes Nuñez a and Barbara Juhász b a Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics, Faculty of Informatics, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest 1117, Hungary; b Department of Digital Cartography, Ministry of Defence, Zrínyi Mapping and Communication Servicing Non-profit Ltd., Kerepesi 29/B, Budapest 1087, Hungary ABSTRACT The use of cartograms can be dated to the second half of the nineteenth century, but they became more popular in the first half of the twentieth century. An interesting characteristic is that the first cartograms (or cartogram-like representations) were published in journals or newspapers for the public in general, as well as in textbooks or school atlases. Their popularity decreased during the second half of the twentieth century until the first half of the 1990s. At present we can observe a revival of the cartograms as a method of representation empowered with new graphic solutions for the geovisualization of data on the Web. This situation motivated us to formulate a question: can cartograms recover their original place within cartography in general and specifically in school cartography? After theoretical research and in the interest of finding an answer to the question above, a survey was organized on this topic in two secondary schools in Budapest. Geographic and geometric area cartograms were tested with 118 pupils. The results reflect a duality in the reading and understanding of this method of representation, constituting a starting point for future empirical research related to the use of cartograms by children and young people. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 31 March 2015 Accepted 24 May 2015 KEYWORDS Cartogram; school cartography; children Introduction: previous research and aims, definitions and history Why develop research on this topic? Hungarian and Argentine research teams developed a project related to the use of maps in schools of both countries from 2004 to 2006 (Reyes et al., 2008). One of the proposals drafted by the participants was to experiment with other methods of representing geography in school atlases and textbooks. It was thought that the use of cartograms might arouse the interest of pupils in using maps and related cartographic objects. In subsequent projects (Hungarian Argentine , Hungarian Austrian ), researchers tested the use of Chernoff faces on maps for pupils and presented the results obtained at various fora; they decided to follow the test of their methods less used in school cartography. The decision was to test the use of cartograms. CONTACT J.J. Reyes Nuñez jesusreyes@caesar.elte.hu; jesus@map.elte.hu 2015 International Cartographic Association

3 6 J.J. REYES NUÑEZ AND B. JUHÁSZ Cartograms are a map-derived or map-based graphic representation, which avoids the conventional cartographic rules, by using intentional distortions as a tool to represent data differently. Their use in textbooks or school atlases, as well as in publications for the public in general (e.g. newspapers), gained special popularity by the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. However, this popularity decreased in the second half of the twentieth century. The research team was interested in conducting a survey to test how current cartograms can be first accepted and later understood by pupils in secondary schools in Hungary who have some experience using maps and school atlases. The premise was that the results to be obtained in this research could give the answer to this question. Furthermore, it could constitute a starting point for more complex projects related to this topic. Defining cartograms Globally, cartographers like Erwin Raisz, Norman J. W. Thrower and Waldo Tobler gave definitions of cartograms during the twentieth century. They agreed on the common characteristic of the cartogram: the intentional distortion of the areas represented on a starting map as a tool to represent a theme. One of the most prominent contemporary researchers on this topic is Daniel Dorling (1996). Dorling (1996) gave a definition of the cartograph, in other words: It can be thought of as a map in which at least one aspect of scale, such as distance or area, is deliberately distorted to be proportional to a variable of interest. This definition can be extended with two thoughts: (1) The distortion of a cartogram should be not only deliberate, but also extremely exaggerated, clearly breaking or exceeding the geographical or political limits that would have been reflected on a traditional map. (2) The cartogram can be made with the distortion of the original geographical or political areas, or after their substitution with a geometric shape. Examples of using cartograms in school cartography The French economist and geographer, Pierre Émile Levasseur was the first internationally recognized educator to use cartograms or cartogram-like representations in his textbooks on Geography. Two examples can be found on page 778 of his book, La France, avec ses Colonies published in Paris in 1875 (Figure 1). He preferred to substitute the original geographic areas with geometric shapes (generally a rectangle), where size and shape were changed according to a variable, rather than modifying the geographic area itself (Levasseur, 1875). Cartogram-like representations can also be found in atlases published for schools in the USA during the nineteenth century. They were identified by different descriptions such as comparative chart (Woodbridge, 1849) or statistical diagram (McNally, 1897). A general characteristic of these representations is the use of a geometric shape (rectangle or circle) to substitute for the original area being represented. Erwin Raisz ( ) can be considered to be the first cartographer to develop scientifically based research on this topic (Reyes, 2014). In 1934 he published an article

4 Figure 1. Cartogram-like representations used by Levasseur in the nineteenth century (left: comparison of territories of France and its colonies; right: comparison of population in France and in its colonies). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARTOGRAPHY 7

5 8 J.J. REYES NUÑEZ AND B. JUHÁSZ entitled The rectangular statistical cartogram with the results of his research on this topic, affirming that the statistical cartogram is not a map, but at the same time, he put emphasis on its educational role: Its educational value is not limited to the schools: it may serve to set right common misconceptions held by even well informed people. He was the first educator and researcher, who consistently dedicated a chapter to the cartograms in his textbooks on Cartography, when he wrote: Cartograms are useful tools of modern geography, and their possibilities are not yet fully explored Value-area cartograms help a great deal in our geographic thinking These cartograms also form a useful base for showing ratios (Raisz, 1948, pp. 256, 258). In his Principles of cartography (Raisz, 1962, p. 217) we can also read: Value-by-area cartograms are important. Our socioeconomic overview of the world will be more realistic if we think of the relative importance of its parts in the proportion of a population cartogram rather than in the proportions of a map. The results are often quite surprising. Such cartograms can make certain problems startlingly clear. In 1944 Raisz also published his Atlas of global geography, including examples of valuearea cartograms showing data related to population, average incomes, death rates, nutrition and illiteracy (Figure 2). During the second half of the twentieth century, the use of cartograms in school cartography decreased significantly. In this period, it was mainly European cartographic firms that included area cartograms in their school atlases. For example, Westermann (Germany) (Zahn & Schröder, 1996) included a geometric area cartogram to compare the extension of countries (Figure 3). Sometimes more unusual examples could be found, such as the linear cartogram published by Freytag-Berndt (Austria) to present the public transport of Vienna in their school atlas (Freytag-Berndt, 1998). Brief thoughts on using cartograms in school atlases An interesting fact is that cartogram-like representations and cartograms were first used in publications (mainly atlases) for use in education and for the general public in publications like newspapers and journals. Their relative popularity, whilst declining during the twentieth century, are now seen to be resurgent, adapting new graphic solutions for the Web. Figure 2. Rectangular cartogram on world literacy, made by Erwin Raisz for his Atlas of global geography (1944).

6 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARTOGRAPHY 9 Figure 3. Cartogram in one of the school atlases published by the Westermann firm in A topical question is: can cartograms re-establish their place in cartography aimed at the general public and more school pupils? Based on earlier studies, curricula from different countries now include cartograms as cartographic resources that give students a more complete and diversified cartographic treatment (Reyes, 2014). But, cartograms are still a common tool for teaching geography. When should cartograms be used in education? In 1996 Dorling stated that area cartograms can be more effectively used to emphasize human geography over topographical representation. The authors agree with this statement, considering that cartograms are a powerful tool to better visualize those geographically smaller areas that are significant within a particular represented theme (e.g. metropolises when population is represented on a thematic map). At the same time, developers should not underestimate the power of cartograms for representing data trends having large differences. However, we cannot ignore that cartograms also have negative characteristics, which can limit their use and make reading the data more difficult. The most important element here is that distortions can make the geographic areas represented almost unrecognizable. The easiest solution in this situation is to only use cartograms to represent territories that are well known to students (the traditional position of continents on a world map, their own country, perhaps continents). Observing cartogram-like representations and cartograms used in school atlases during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we can affirm that all of them (found during our research) were geometric area cartograms. This is due to the fact that this type of cartogram can be best used for making a fast comparison of the areas represented by visualizing the differences in trends between them. The results obtained in current research also confirmed this concept. The possible use of cartograms in the later grades of Elementary Schools and in Secondary Schools was not a large area of research until the research reported here was done. Recently, only one study was found that is related to the topic of using cartograms in education. This was undertaken by Kaspar, Fabrikant, and Freckmann (2011) on the use of cartograms by students (24 years old on average) from a cartography class at the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe. For this reason, the authors determined to conduct a survey on this topic,

7 10 J.J. REYES NUÑEZ AND B. JUHÁSZ focusing on pupils at secondary schools so as to determine preliminary ideas about how these students could use, read and understand cartograms in their study materials. School survey Target grades and ages Considering the characteristics of the Hungarian educational system and our interest in applying a questionnaire with pupils having some experience using maps and school atlases, the decision was made to conduct the survey with pupils in the first two grades in secondary school. Two institutions were invited to participate, and subsequently accepted. One was a nationally recognized, high-level secondary school in Budapest (identified as school A in the survey), whose pupils participate in national and international competitions and have obtained good results. The other (school B) is an average rural school, based in a small city in the Eastern region of Hungary, about 310 km from Budapest. The selection was intentional, as we wished to organize a representative survey, and these institutions are from regions with obvious economic and social differences. To illustrate these differences, we note that the rate of unemployment is 3.7 times higher in the Eastern province of the country (11.02%), compared to Budapest with only 3% (Suhajda, 2015). Altogether, 118 pupils participated in the survey from two classes in grades 10 and 11, 55 from school A and 63 from school B. The composition by age and gender can be seen in Figure 4. Conducting the questionnaire Researchers can face many questions to answer during the study of cartograms for school cartography, but during our research, we wished to find at least a preliminary answer to two main questions: (1) How can pupils identify known geographic units after they are distorted on cartograms? Figure 4. Composition of participants by age and gender in the survey.

8 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARTOGRAPHY 11 (2) Are there any differences between the readability and understandability of geographic and geometric area cartograms by the pupils? The first task was to select the territories to be represented using cartograms. The main condition was that they should be well known to the pupils. After the study of textbooks and school atlases, it was decided to represent data of countries of Europe and provinces of Hungary. The themes were the population of Europe in 2013 (one of the most common themes represented with cartograms) and the production of grapes in Hungarian provinces in The sources for the data were the Eurostat website and the website of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. The second task was to determine if students might prefer to read data from a cartogram rather than using a more traditional thematic map. The easiest solution to determine their preference was to represent the same data in two maps: the first being a cartogram and the second a traditional method of representation. This gave the pupils the opportunity to answer the questions by using the map of their choice and indicating on the questionnaire which map they used for their answer. The third task was to prepare the four maps for the questionnaire. We had to take into account that the questionnaire could only be printed only in black and white due to cost. This was a detrimental factor when the traditional methods of representation and graphic solutions were determined for each map. Table 1 presents the methods used to represent the information. The geographic area cartogram was made using the ScapeToad free software application (Andrieu, Kaiser, & Ourednik, 2008), while the geometric area cartogram was made by traditional manual methods. The fourth task was to pen the specific questions for each map. The main aim was to test which map the pupils selected to answer the questions and not to record their level of knowledge in the themes represented. For this reason, it was decided to include questions that were easy to answer, trying to facilitate and streamline the selection of the more appropriate map for their answers. The list of questions for each pair of maps is shown in Table 2. The first questions to be answered in both tasks were: Which is the most populous country in Europe?, and Which Hungarian county harvested the most grapes in 2012?. These could only be answered using respective cartograms. It was written in this way intentionally to encourage the pupils to first use the cartogram, as it was, for them, an unusual way of representing the information. This was considered it to be a solution, by trying to encourage using the cartogram. The rest of the questions could be answered by using any of the maps. At the end of the questionnaire, a last question asked their opinions about the cartograms. The questionnaire was anonymous, only the age and gender of the pupils were sought. Figure 5 shows the two pages of the questionnaire, in Hungarian. Table 1. Methods of representation used in each map. Traditional method Cartogram TASK 1: EUROPE Choropleths (6 categories) Geometric area cartogram TASK 2: HUNGARY Proportional pictorial symbols (4 categories) Geographic area cartogram

9 12 J.J. REYES NUÑEZ AND B. JUHÁSZ Table 2. Questions included in the questionnaire. 1st TASK: EUROPE 1st question Which is the most populous country in Europe? 2nd question Which country is more populous? (Ireland or Great Britain, Spain or France, Bulgaria or Romania, Slovakia or Czech Republic) 3rd question Sort by population in ascending order the following countries: Austria, Italy, Slovenia 2nd TASK: HUNGARY 1st question Which county harvested the most grapes in 2012? 2nd question List three counties with the least amount of grapes harvested! 3rd question Underline the name of the county where the least amount of grapes was harvested: Baranya or Pest, Vas or Veszprém, Tolna or Zala Note: In each question, the pupils were asked to indicate the map they used when giving their answers. Results The results obtained during the survey are detailed in Table 3. The data processing of charts to illustrate the results was completed using Microsoft Excel. Each question was processed automatically, except the opinions expressed by the pupils, which were analysed individually to determine their positive or negative character. It can be seen that the percentage of correct answers was high in all questions asked (between 92% and 100%). But this was not the most interesting result for the researchers, who focused on the study of the use of the cartograms. Based on these analyses, it can be affirmed that: (i) The geometric area cartogram was used by a larger number of pupils than those who used the choropleth map. (ii) The majority of pupils recognized correctly that the first question could only be answered using the cartogram. Table 3. Results of the survey by tasks and questions. 1st TASK: EUROPE 2nd question 1st question A B C D 3rd question Correct Incorrect Empty Choropleth Cartogram Both None nd TASK: HUNGARY 3rd question 1st question 2nd question A B C Correct Incorrect Empty Symbols Cartogram Both None Notes: The first part of the table shows the number of correct, incorrect and empty answers. In the second part, it can be seen how many students used the traditional map or the cartogram, both of them or none.

10 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARTOGRAPHY 13 Figure 5. Hungarian questionnaire on cartograms. (iii) Although some of them preferred to answer the rest of the questions with the choropleth map, the positive trend on the use of the cartogram continued and even increased when the last question was addressed.

11 14 J.J. REYES NUÑEZ AND B. JUHÁSZ The trend was quite different in relation to the geographic area cartogram of Hungary. The number of pupils using the cartogram to answer the first question was even larger than in the previous task (Europe), but the trend was not maintained and even decreased markedly in the second question and the first comparison of the production in Hungarian counties in the third question. All results were presented as a composite. Intentionally, the authors did not separately publish the analysis of the results obtained in each school, because they wished to keep the representative character of the national survey, without making emphasis on the specific differences between the participating schools. The two selected institutions are from regions not only distant from each other, but also with notable economic and social differences. Did these differences have a marked influence on the results of the survey? Economic and social differences certainly influence actual teaching activities, but the results obtained confirmed a similarity related to the acceptance or rejection of this method of representation that can be considered to be new (or unknown) to them. Notably, pupils from both schools chose the geometric cartogram over the choropleth map and rejected the geographic area cartogram over the pictograms. The pupils opinion about cartograms was another important aspect to this study. Fortunately, the number of opinions was high considering the number of participants. Only seven pupils did not write any comment. The 111 opinions reflected a larger number of comments, because the researchers found 85 opinions that were common for both cartograms provided, but they found 28 detailing their points of view about each cartogram. In two cases the pupil gave a common opinion for both cartograms and another one about a specific cartogram as well. Figure 6 shows the ratios of positive, negative and neutral opinions that were written jointly (in common) for both types of cartograms. Within the neutral category, those opinions can be found which included negative and positive opinions together (e.g. cartograms are interesting solutions, but the traditional thematic map is better to represent data with low differences ). Some interesting details are summarized below: Figure 6. Classification of opinions given by the pupils during the survey.

12 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARTOGRAPHY 15 Twenty-one pupils wrote remarks related exclusively to the use of the geographic area cartogram: 13 of them explained the disadvantages, 3 pupils gave positive assessment and 5 were neutral. Pupils used adjectives like incomprehensible as well as excessive distortion and displacement to explain the problems experimented by them reading data from this cartogram. Pupils also expressed that the data reading is slower and uncertain and it is more difficult to interpret, but at the same time recognized that the uniqueness of the distortion grabs the attention. Thirteen pupils detailed their positive experiences using the geometric area cartogram (Europe) and only one qualified its use as being negative (there were no neutral opinions). In general, the positive opinions reflected the pupils satisfaction with the geometric area cartogram, writing that due to the regular shapes it helped so much to answer the questions, it is better and more transparent than the geographic area cartogram. Other adjectives used by the pupils to describe the geometric area cartogram were: useful, easy to understand, helpful and proportional. The general comments considered to be neutral by the researchers combined generally positive opinions about the geometric area cartogram and negative opinions about the geographic one. The comments written by 18 pupils tend to focus on the statement that the usability of the cartograms depends on the type of task that they were asked to undertake: sometimes a traditional thematic map is better, at other times the cartogram can be more helpful. They also opined that cartograms can be understood better if they are presented together with a traditional map. They used the following adjectives to characterize cartograms: useful, interesting, well readable, practical and unequivocal (Juhász, 2014). Conclusions The main premise for any work with cartograms in education was clearly described by Reyes (2014, pp ), who said: they should never be aimed to replace the traditional thematic maps, but only to complete the information given by these maps. Studies written by numerous researchers support the importance of using different solutions for representation in cartographic products for school use. Zucherato and Castreghini (2013, p. 2) wrote that it is extremely important the encouragement of the use of multiple representations since the Elementary School, in order that students can develop better this level of reading, what may provide a better reading of geographical space. Previously, specialists from different countries addressed the role that cartograms could play in education and their use was also proposed in curricula proposed by various institutions. Only one author, Patrick Wiegand (2006), affirmed in his book Learning and teaching with maps that when developing pupils map and atlas usage skills they should be able to draw conclusions from cartograms (for example, on a world population cartogram, where the size of the countries is shown proportional not to area but their population, identify countries that have a small area and large population). The results obtained during the school survey allow us to draw two main conclusions together with a recommendation. The geometric area cartogram is much more appropriate for use in school cartography than those based on geographic area. According to the pupils opinions, the use of geometric shapes to substitute for geographic or political areas facilitates the recognition and

13 16 J.J. REYES NUÑEZ AND B. JUHÁSZ comparison of large differences in the represented data trends. This is recommended for use in textbooks and school atlases for later elementary and secondary education teaching. In the case of the geographic area cartogram, the distortions applied to differentiate data can introduce difficulties when identifying the original areas. This constitutes a serious obstacle that cannot be compensated for by the extremely explicit graphic representation of the differences between data. This research project should be considered to be only the first stage of studying the use of cartograms in education. Based on the results achieved, and reported in this paper, the direction to be followed in future research projects related to this topic should be a more detailed study on different themes related to the geometric area cartograms such as: (i) Testing the use of other geometric shapes in cartograms for education, following the results of research projects on this topic, for example, Dorling, Vickers, Pritchard, and Ballas (2008). (ii) Evaluating the effectiveness of the use of flow mapping-based solutions in cartograms for education. (iii) Determining if the use of graphic, animated and interactive solutions that were developed for Web-based applications recently are useful. ORCID José Jesús Reyes Nuñez Barbara Juhász Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Notes on contributors José Jesús Reyes Nuñez is Associate Professor at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. His research interests lie in Cartography for Children (teaching of cartographic concepts and map use in Elementary and Secondary Schools) and Computer Cartography (including GIS and the use of Web to teach cartographic concepts for children). Author of more than 20 articles in scientific publications and more than 50 papers in different events, he has collaborated as cartographer in more than 40 textbooks and atlases. He is responsible for the organization of the Barbara Petchenik Map Competition in Hungary from 1999, being President of the International Jury in 2005 and At present he is Chair of the ICA Commission on Cartography and Children. Barbara Juhász graduated at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) as a cartographer in She wrote her thesis entitled Possible application of cartograms in education on the theme of alternative thematic mapping methods. Her career began at the Hungarian Geodetic and Mapping Company Ltd., where she worked with GIS databases related to the water and wastewater system of Hungary. She is currently working as a map editor at the Ministry of Defence Zrínyi Mapping and Communication Servicing Non-profit Ltd. where her main task is the editing of military maps. Her interests belong to thematic mapping, map design, data visualization and GIS database management.

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