Mapping

GESIS Workshop: Introduction to Geospatial Techniques for Social Scientists in R

Stefan Jünger, Anne-Kathrin Stroppe, Dennis Abel

2026-04-23

Now

Day Time Title
April 09 10:00-11:30 Introduction
April 09 11:30-11:45 Coffee Break
April 09 11:45-13:00 Data Formats
April 09 13:00-14:00 Lunch Break
April 09 14:00-15:30 Mapping
April 09 15:30-15:45 Coffee Break
April 09 15:45-17:00 Spatial Wrangling
April 10 09:00-10:30 Spatial Wrangling
April 10 10:30-10:45 Coffee Break
April 10 10:45-12:00 Applied Spatial Linking
April 10 12:00-13:00 Lunch Break
April 10 13:00-14:30 Spatial Analysis
April 10 14:30-14:45 Coffee Break
April 10 14:45-16:00 Spatial Econometrics & Outlook

Fun with flags… MAPS!

Fun with Flags by Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Big Bang Theory

Fun with maps

plot() does not allow us to manipulate the maps easily. But we already have the two most essential ingredients to create a nice map:

  1. Vector data stored in the ./data folder
  2. Some (hopefully) interesting attributes linked with the geometries

What makes a good map?

Good Mapping

  • Reduction to most important information
  • Legends, scales, descriptions
  • Audience oriented
  • Adjusted for color vision deficiencies

Bad Mapping

  • Overcrowding and overlapping
  • Unreadable information
  • Missing information like the legend or source
  • Poor choice of color palettes

What makes a good map?