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GIS Workshops: Happiness

Spring 2014 Workshop: Mapping Happiness - Identifying the Happiest Places in the World

   

Objectives

Identify the happiest and saddest countries on Earth.  We will then view our top 10 results online at ArcGIS.com.

 

We will use 15 variables in the following categories to attempt to calculate world happiness:

  • Economic
  • Environmental
  • Health
  • Social
  • Utilities
The 15 variables are broken down by category below.

Contact for More Information

Introduction Presentation

Before Exercise, What Do You Think?

Data Sources Used & Variable Info

Workshop Plan

Before Analysis: Explore Data

  • Navigate to the C:/HappyMappy directory in Windows and launch (double-click) Happiness.mxd.  Within ArcMap, we will explore each variable

Add Criteria

  • This function adds criteria to your profile of world happiness.
  • Variable Selection - The variable you want to include
  • Variable Direction - Whether high values or low values will help determine happiness
  • Variable Importance - Specifies how important the variable is to you
  • The following image shows the following example: High air quality helps to determine happiness, but only a little.

List Selection Criteria

  • This function displays all currently selected variables
  • Here is an example:

Calculate Happiness Index

  • This will generate a happiness index, between 0 to 1.0 (1.0 represents absolute happiness)
  • Details of the analysis will appear in the window.  An example is shown below:

  • You will then need to click the 'Add Data' button at the top of the ArcMap window, and browse to C:\HappyMappy\shapefiles and add HappyIndex.shp.

ArcGISOnline

  • This function will compress the top 10 happiest countries into a single .ZIP file and then launch an empty ArcGIS Online map.
  • In ArcGIS Online, click Add/Add Layer From File, and browse to C:\HappyMappy and select Top10.zip
  • An example of the results are below:

Refresh

  • This function will reset all selections and created files so you can re-run the analysis.