The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem
The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem
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DOI：
10.1080/00045608.2012.687349
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Kwan, Mei-Po
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Kwan, Mei-Po
任何研究，探讨基于区域的属性对个人行为或结果的影响面临着另一个基本的方法论问题，除了可修改的面积单位问题（MAUP）。问题是，这些影响的结果可能会受到环境单元或社区在地理上的划分以及这些区域单元偏离真实地理环境的程度的影响。这个问题的出现是因为在实际领域的空间不确定性，发挥研究中的上下文影响和时间的不确定性，在个人经历这些上下文的影响的时间和持续时间。本文以邻里效应和环境健康研究为出发点，阐明了这一问题的本质和根源，即不确定地理背景问题（UGCoP）。它强调了UGCoP可能导致的一些推理错误，并讨论了减轻问题的一些方法。文章回顾了近年来的研究，指出语境变量和研究结果对语境单位的不同划分都很敏感。文章认为，UGCoP是一个与MAUP一样基本的问题，但却是一个不同类型的问题。未来的研究需要明确关注其对研究结果的潜在混淆效应以及减轻问题的方法。
Any study that examines the effects of area-based attributes on individual behaviors or outcomes faces another fundamental methodological problem besides the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP). It is the problem that results about these effects can be affected by how contextual units or neighborhoods are geographically delineated and the extent to which these areal units deviate from the true geographic context. The problem arises because of the spatial uncertainty in the actual areas that exert the contextual influences under study and the temporal uncertainty in the timing and duration in which individuals experienced these contextual influences. Using neighborhood effects and environmental health research as a point of departure, this article clarifies the nature and sources of this problem, which is referred to as the uncertain geographic context problem (UGCoP). It highlights some of the inferential errors that the UGCoP might cause and discusses some means for mitigating the problem. It reviews recent studies to show that both contextual variables and research findings are sensitive to different delineations of contextual units. The article argues that the UGCoP is a problem as fundamental as the MAUP but is a different kind of problem. Future research needs to pay explicit attention to its potential confounding effects on research results and to methods for mitigating the problem.