PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – During the GIS Institute Conference on June 1, PSTC trainees addressed topics related to population health and wellbeing, including the geographical distribution of the naturalization of immigrants in the U.S., early childhood center placements in Argentina, and divorce rates in the U.S. Tate Kihara (Sociology), Janet Carolina Lopez (Economics), and Haoming Song (Sociology) were among the 20 participants in the two-week GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Institute offered by Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4).

The conference was a culmination of the Institute, which provides training on visualization, management, and analysis of geographic data and the opportunity to integrate spatial data and concepts into ongoing research. The three PSTC trainees presented their research during the conference session “GIS Applications in the Social Sciences.”

Kihara’s presentation, “Examining Naturalization of Immigrants from a Geographical Perspective,” examined the geographical distribution of naturalization of immigrants across the United States at the county level, as well as the association between naturalization and socio-demographic factors. He used data from the American Community Survey and examined how his results differ from approaches that utilize alternative spatial boundaries (e.g., state) and methods that do not take into account spatial autocorrelation.

Lopez’s research addressed the “Determinants of the Allocation of Early Childhood Centers in Rural Areas,” focusing on the precarious conditions faced by an indigenous community in Salta, Argentina, and the programs launched by the government to alleviate some of the challenges there. The program opened early childhood development centers in some villages, but the allocation was not random. Her presentation aimed to evaluate potential determinants of the allocation by analyzing differences in distance to roads and water sources, average temperature, and night lights.

In order to better understand the changing family structures in the U.S., Song’s presentation, “Changing Divorce in the U.S. - A Spatial Analysis of State-Level Differences,” examined the spatial level of divorce across states by studying the state-level crude divorce rate differences and the temporal changes from 2000 to 2016. He used mainly National Vital Statistics System data from the CDC to determine if the spatial correlation holds significantly for divorce in the U.S.

The GIS Institute is offered twice a year and is open to the entire Brown community. The next one will take place in January 2019.