The map above represents the total African American population by county in 2000. A data table with Race Only data was joined with existing census data to create different thematic representations. The colors for the different labels in the legend were manually selected and I chose 10 classifications in order to show more representation of the African American population.
This map represents the population of African Americans per square mile in a given county. It is also an exercise in poor color selection for the different classifications showing the importance of color selection and coordination when creating a thematic map. Find in the population per square mile required using the field calculator to select a formula for calculation by the attribute table.
This map represent the population percentage of African Americans per county. I used 15 classifications to show more representation of the African American population throughout the country. I used a color ramp in the symbology tab and it shows well with good contrast. Creating a percentage map requires the use of the Field Calculator to create a formula and selecting the attribute column to display in symbology.
Conclusion
There are many ways to manipulate and represent data giving the user the opportunity to create the thematic map that suits his or her needs. It should also be understood that one can manipulate the data to express or represent different ideas or points of view. For instance, if there were 7 classifications of the Percentage data, the map would give the impression of less representation, so with 15 classifications there appears to be more representation.
