| The Geography
Department offers both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in three major sub-fields
within the Spatial Analysis track: Analytical Cartography, Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), and Quantitative Methods. Please be aware
that curricular requirements are subject to change and the definitive
version which appears in the Department of Geography Graduate Manual
may not match this page
| General Principles | Master's
(M.A.) | Doctorate (Ph.D.) | Sub-fields
|
Within the Spatial Analysis Methods (SAM) track, there are three
major sub-fields, or concentrations. These are:
- Analytical Cartography
- Geographic Information Systems
- Quantitative Methods
These concentrations share a common core, and each adds additional,
but varying, requirements. This page lays out the general principles
of the SAM track, followed by requirements for the Master's and
Ph.D. programs. Finally, you may view additional details for these
sub-fields at the bottom of this page.
| General
Principles |
Students admitted to the Spatial Analysis Methods graduate
program should fulfill the following general requirements:
College level calculus - Those students
who do not fulfill this requirement will be required to take
a calculus sequence in the Department of Mathematics.
College level statistics - Those students
who do not have the necessary statistics background will be
required to take at least one statistics course in the Department
of Statistics.
Fundamental techniques - The following set
of techniques, fundamental to the discipline, is subject to
change as the nature of the discipline changes:
-
The ability to produce journal quality, computer-generated
maps.
-
Basic understanding of and ability to use GIS.
-
The ability to understand and apply probability theory
and basic inferential statistics.
An understanding of and an ability to apply a fundamental
set of multivariate statistical techniques.
Supporting the last of these points is the prominence of multivariate
methods in the literature. Without a foundation in multivariate
statistics, students will be unable to grasp much of the literature
relevant to their work. This is true for virtually all students,
even if their own work does not involve the use of these methods.
Other desirable qualifications:
-
Exposure to a variety of spatial analytical methods,
particularly those that can be integrated with GIS.
-
All Master's students in SAM should have an understanding
of explicitly spatial analytical issues, including sampling
and spatial autocorrelation.
-
A solid grounding in research design, including not only
experimental design, but problem identification, problem
development, proposal writing, and other basic research
skills (such as identifying and using reference materials).
-
Ability to write computer programs in FORTRAN, C, or
other equally flexible languages (higher level languages
such as SAS, or macro languages accomplanying spreadsheets,
for example, would not fulfill this requirement).
|
| Master's
Degree (M.A.) |
SAM students can satisfy the Master's requirements by successfully
completing a combination of SAM core courses, other SAM courses,
other geography courses, and recommended elective courses
from outside the department. Requirements include at least
two advanced SAM courses. Typically, these will be taken during
the Autumn and Winter quarters of the second year of the Master's
program.
The SAM Master's program requirements include at least two
800 or higher level courses beyond the department-wide quantitative
methods sequence (Geography 883.01 and 883.01). We require
a thesis and an oral exam for the Masters. All theses must
satisfy the Graduate School Thesis requirements.
Core Requirements
The following table summarizes other Master's level core
requirements.
Quarter |
Year 1 |
Year 2
|
Autumn |
Mapping/GIS |
Spatial Analysis and GIS, One advanced course from
the elective Geog SAM list
|
Winter |
Quantitative Methods 1 |
One advanced course from
the elective Geog SAM list
|
Spring |
Quantitative Methods 2 Research Design |
|
As early as possible |
Computer Programming
|
|
Note: Course and independent study alternatives for fulfilling
the mapping/GIS, research design, and spatial analysis requirements
must have adviser approval.
-
Quantitative Sequence
Quantitative Methods 1: Univariate and
bivariate inferential statistics, spatial and non-spatial
sampling, and fundamentals of spatial analysis.
Quantitative Methods 2: Multivariate
statistics, Spatial autocorrelation.
|
|
Doctorate (Ph.D.) |
All Ph.D. students in SAM must satisfy the core requirements
of the Master's degree. In addition, the following must also
be satisfied:
-
In addition to departmental requirements, Ph.D. students
will receive necessary further direction from their advisors.
-
SAM Ph.D. students should have a knowledge and appreciation
of the philosophy of geographic thought.
-
SAM Ph.D. students will enroll in at least one 800 or
higher-level geography course per year.
-
SAM Ph.D. students will complete at least one course
in Advanced Quantitative Methods beyond the Masters program
core.
|
| SAM
Sub-fields |
Each of the three subfields in SAM is characterized by
specialized (but varying) curricula. Details for each can
be found by selecting the appropriate subfield below:
These Spatial Analytical Methods courses are taken in conjunction
with departmental core courses and are typically supplemented
with cognate courses in the Department of Geography and in
other departments at O.S.U.
|
If you are interested in undertaking graduate work in Urban
and Regional Systems, you may wish to
request further details and application materials.
|
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