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GIS Workshops: Workshop Steps

Workshop Plan

Before Analysis: Explore Data

  • Within ArcMap, we will explore each feature class.  We will explore the attribute table and adjust the symbology.

Step #1: Calculate distances to supermarkets

  • Specify distances IN MILES to supermarkets for both urban and rural areas.

  • Use the drop-down menu or enter a number (decimals are OK) for rural and urban.
  • It is not necessary to change the Output File

Step #2: Calculate vulnerability index

  • Calculate a vulnerability score for each area (Census block group) on a 0 to 1.0 scale.  The higher the score, the more vulnerable an area's population is to the absence of supermarkets.

  • Each factor requires a DIRECTION and an IMPORTANCE.
    • Direction is whether an increase in this factor will increase an area's vulnerability.
    • Importance is the relative importance compared to the other three factors.
  • It is not necessary to change the output file.

Step #3: Clip the Vulverability Index (normalized.shp) with the Supermarket Access (outsideBuffer.shp)

  • Specifies the vulnerability index within the buffer ranges specified in step #1.