ABSTRACT
This chapter considers issues of layout design in a social science context. It shows how thematic maps can be created and provides an overview and examples of the most common types of mapping used in the social sciences. The chapter begins with a discussion of the different types of socioeconomic and demographic variables and data that can be joined with geographical data. It considers the latest trends and technologies, including online mapping. The chapter draws on a review by Ballas and Dorling of alternative human-scaled visualisations which includes an argument for human cartograms to be used instead of conventional maps in the social sciences. It presents alternative ways of mapping data in the social sciences. In particular, the chapter draws on cartographic approaches and arguments that make the case for 'human cartograms' to be used for the geovisualisation of data in the social sciences instead of conventional thematic mapping.
