Spatial Analysis in Geography

This article views spatial analysis as a research paradigm that provides a unique set of specialized techniques and models for a wide range of research questions in which the prime variables of interest vary significantly over space. The heart of spatial analysis is concerned with the analysis and modeling of spatial data. Spatial point patterns and area referenced data represent the most appropriate perspectives for applications in the social sciences. The researcher analyzing and modeling spatial data tends to be confronted with a series of problems such as the data quality problem, the ecological fallacy problem, the modifiable areal unit problem, boundary and frame effects, and the spatial dependence problem. The problem of spatial dependence is at the core of modern spatial analysis and requires the use of specialized techniques and models in the data analysis. The discussion focuses on exploratory techniques and model-driven (confirmatory) modes of analyzing spatial point patterns and area data. In closing, prospects are given towards a new style of data-driven spatial analysis characterized by computational intelligence techniques such as evolutionary computation and neural network modeling to meet the challenges of huge quantities of spatial data characteristic in remote sensing, geodemographics, and marketing.