Abstract
Nominal categories and classified data are closely tied to the geographic discipline. This paper examines the use of categories and classification in geography, problems that are encountered with them, and some reasons for those problems. General theories of categorization from the cognitive sciences and from philosophy are examined and compared to geographic practice. Finally, an alternative approach to the use of classified data in digital spatial databases is outlined. Complex concepts can be stored as disaggregated fields representing underlying processes that are more easily defined than the complex categories that they will define. User end software allows for the reconstruction of these factors into a wide variety of complex concepts according to the needs of the user. This approach explores how to create databases of high utility and versatility.
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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Gray, M.V. (1997). Classification as an impediment to the reliable and valid use of spatial information: A disaggregate approach. In: Hirtle, S.C., Frank, A.U. (eds) Spatial Information Theory A Theoretical Basis for GIS. COSIT 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1329. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-63623-4_47
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-63623-4_47
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