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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Wilfrid Laurier University

1999

Geography

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Improving Map Literacy: The Application Of Second Language Instruction Views And Techniques, Heather Anne Rayner Jan 1999

Improving Map Literacy: The Application Of Second Language Instruction Views And Techniques, Heather Anne Rayner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Maps are a common and useful tool, yet many people do not know how to use them effectively. Map education has typically been inadequate for teaching people the skills involved in map use and map reading. Map education in schools, where people typically learn their mapping skills, can be improved. This thesis looks at specific ways to improve map education. Based upon previous research, it looks at cartography from a language perspective to determine whether findings from the language research can be applied to cartography, and more specifically to map education. Maps serve to communicate information, and have been compared …


Vulnerability To Natural Disasters In A Rapidly Growing, Affluent Society, British Columbia, Canada, Jonathan P. Maclean Belcher Jan 1999

Vulnerability To Natural Disasters In A Rapidly Growing, Affluent Society, British Columbia, Canada, Jonathan P. Maclean Belcher

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

British Columbia is a province that experienced rapid demographic, urban and economic growth in the past few decades. It is a modern and technologically sophisticated society. Although the province possesses the knowledge and resources to combat most dangers that threaten its people and communities, these dangers continue to outstrip the precautions and safety measures in place. The reasons for this seem to lie less in the characteristics of dangers or hazards, but rather relate to socioeconomic processes and organisations that disadvantage particular people, groups and sectors of the population, or make them more vulnerable to dangers than others. This thesis …


Political Participation In Kitchener-Waterloo: A Spatial Analysis Of The 1993 Federal Election (Ontario), Paul Churcher Jan 1999

Political Participation In Kitchener-Waterloo: A Spatial Analysis Of The 1993 Federal Election (Ontario), Paul Churcher

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examines political participation in the 1993 federal election in Kitchener- Waterloo. Voter turnout is modeled at the polling division level using statistical analysis with spatial diagnostics. This study is different from other Canadian research since it uses a fine scale spatial unit and it explores the geographical aspect of political participation. The findings confirm results from other studies as well as showing that geography plays a small but significant role in the decision to vote. The results of the statistical analysis show that polling divisions are appropriate spatial units for the examination of political participation. Demographics, political motivation, …


A Winter Index For Benchmarking Winter Road Maintenance Operations On Ontario Highways, Jianzhong Li Jan 1999

A Winter Index For Benchmarking Winter Road Maintenance Operations On Ontario Highways, Jianzhong Li

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canada is one of the snowiest countries in the world, and winter road maintenance activities cost in the order of a billion dollars a year. These activities vary considerably over both space and time, partly due to differences in winter weather, but also because of differences in road and traffic mix, terrain and other factors. The thesis explores the association between winter road maintenance activities and winter weather. The first objective is to characterize the spatial and temporal variation in severe winter weather in Ontario. The second objective is to identify a winter weather index that is sensitive to road …


Where Are The Urban Elderly? Clustered And Concentrated In Aged Spaces: Three Examples Kitchener-Waterloo, Halifax And Victoria (Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia), Susan Lucas Jan 1999

Where Are The Urban Elderly? Clustered And Concentrated In Aged Spaces: Three Examples Kitchener-Waterloo, Halifax And Victoria (Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia), Susan Lucas

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research uses enumeration area data from the 1991 census and a methodology consisting of principal components analysis (PCA), cluster and discriminant analysis to define 'aged spaces', highly localized concentrations of the elderly, in Kitchener-Waterloo, Halifax and Victoria.. The results show that: (1) it is possible to define aged spaces on the basis of the old-age family status dimensions identified by the PCA for each individual city, as well as a joint analysis of all three cities; (2) the old-age dimensions derived by the PCA are differentiated by marital status, advanced age and gender and (3) aged spaces defined on …