Contiguity principle for geographic units: evidence on the quantity, degree, and location of Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) fragmentation

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Key words: , , , , ,
Issue: Volume 7, Issue 2, 2013

Abstract


Social scientists investigating how context varies by geographical location and/or how macro-level phenomenon affects individual outcomes often make use of U.S. Census Bureau Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files where micro-units can only be geographically located to Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) polygons.  Most spatial analysis investigations with PUMAs ignore the fact that many of them are multipart polygons—spatially separated polygons that share the same attribute and are stored as a single feature in a vector file. We briefly discuss the theoretical premises of how geographical boundaries are created for macro units and investigate the quantity, degree, and location of PUMA fragmentation. We argue that the basic contiguity principle (the assumption that spatial analysis uses polygon centroids for solid and contiguous geographic units) in spatial dependence analysis is being violated with many PUMAs in the U.S. mainland—where Texas, California, Tennessee, and Illinois merit special attention. Future research should outline a method for handling multipart polygons in spatial and hierarchical analyses. 

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Authors Affiliations


Carlos Siordia(a)*, Douglas F. Wunneburger(b)
(a) NRSA Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA
(b) Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, USA
* Corresponding author. Email: cas271@pitt.edu

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Title: Human Geographies - Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography
ISSN online: 2067-2284
ISSN print: 1843-6587
Imprint: University of Bucharest
Frequency: Biannual (May&November)
First volume: 1/2007
Current volume: 17/2023
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Prof. dr. Liliana Dumitrache
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Daniela Dumbrăveanu
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Mariana Nae
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Gabriel Simion
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

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