Analyzing Data
Youth Data Analysis will support young people to interrogate data as a different way of seeing one’s neighborhood. Two examples of analyzing data are below:
Participating youth will collect and analyze their personal time geography with GPS track data that show “typical” routes and locations that young people use and frequent (Hagerstrand, 1979). They will analyze this data in a GIS to learn how to look for patterns, problems, and possibilities from spatial data. For example, patterns might be in relation to the grid network. Problems might be about the interstate system cutting through the neighborhood. And possibilities could be about additional bus routes for youth to access a library. Thinking closely about the data they have collected, young people will create asset maps of the neighborhood and greater community. Asset maps will show the things that are working well about the geographic area, the deficits that exist, and the assets young people are imaging for the future of this place.
