GISP - Geographic Information Systems Professional Cartography and Visualization Questions and Answers

Question 1

A cartographer is creating a thematic map showing population density by county for the entire United States.
To ensure that each class in the legend represents an equal number of counties, which data classification method is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Quantile

Answer

Equal Interval

Answer

Natural Breaks (Jenks)

Answer

Standard Deviation

Question 2

When designing a map for a presentation, a GIS professional wants to ensure that the most important information, such as the main thematic layer, immediately draws the viewer's attention. Which cartographic principle is most directly concerned with this goal?

Accepted Answer

Visual Hierarchy

Answer

Map Projection

Answer

Cartographic Generalization

Answer

Scale

Question 3

A GIS analyst is tasked with creating a series of maps from a highly detailed national road network dataset for use at various scales, from a national overview down to a local street view. The process of simplifying the linework and reducing the number of features for the smaller-scale maps is known as:

Accepted Answer

Cartographic Generalization

Answer

Buffering

Answer

Reclassification

Answer

Geocoding

Question 4

Which of the following map projections would be most suitable for a navigational chart of the world's oceans, where preserving the shape of coastlines and maintaining true direction for rhumb lines is the highest priority?

Accepted Answer

Mercator

Answer

Albers Equal Area Conic

Answer

Azimuthal Equidistant

Answer

Winkel Tripel

Question 5

A choropleth map is being created to show the percentage of the population with a college degree in each state. Which of the following is a critical consideration to ensure the map is not misleading?

Accepted Answer

Normalizing the data

Answer

Using raw population counts instead of percentages

Answer

Using a unique color for each state

Answer

Using a very large number of classes (e.g., >20)

Question 6

In cartographic design, what is the primary purpose of a map's legend?

Accepted Answer

To explain the meaning of the symbols and colors used on the map

Answer

To indicate the map's scale and projection

Answer

To orient the map reader with a north arrow

Answer

To provide the source and date of the data