112 CARTOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION

With the second method of symbolizing

multivariate information, composite data Life in Los Angeles
rather than raw variables are shown. Thus,
an index or ratio between a number of
variables may be computed prior to mapping
and then shown by a single symbol. It is here
that map reading becomes especially tricky,
for these multivariate symbols look exactly
like single-variable ones. Only the nature of
the information symbolized, not the form of
the symbols, has been changed. More than
ever, therefore, it is essential to check the
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legend as your initial step in map reading.
Multivariate symbols, like single-variable
ones, may show either qualitative or quan-
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titative information. Let us look at the
characteristics of each.
Qualitative Information
Map makers use qualitative symbols to
present multivariate information in raw
form by combining different dimensions
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HIGH I LOW
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LOW I HIGH
(shape and hue, say) or by using multiples of
the same dimension (two different shapes,
for instance, such as a square within a circle).
As with single-variable qualitative symbols, I t
\LGW/ HIGH
d6
HIGH

differences in shape, arrangement, orienta-

tion, and hue contribute to the best map
designs. But multivariate symbols are often
so elaborate that cartographers do not rigor-
ously adhere to the intuitive visual dimen-
sions during the design process.
Some multivariate symbols are picto-
graphic, but most are geometric. Point and
area symbols are the most common. Point
symbols are popular because they make it
fairly easy to pack information into several
dimensions at once. In Figure 4.23, for
example, four Variables depicting social
status have been used to create different
facial expressions. The shape of the face
shows levels of affluence; the mouth indi-
cates unemployment rate; the eyes represent
urban stress; and the tone of the symbol
represents the proportion of the population
which is white. The combined effect is so
striking that you can almost sense how people
in different sections of the city feel.
It is also relatively easy to overlap two
area symbols to form a third. This overlap-
ping technique may be quite effective, as
when water and grass merge to form a
marsh.-But in other cases, as when yellow
4.23 This multivariate map of Los Angeles shows four
social status factors, each divided into three classes
(low, medium, high) (courtesy of G. Turner).
and blue symbols overlap to form a green
symbol, the coding may go unrecognized
unless specifically defined in the legend.
Qualitative multivariate line symbols are
not as well liked by mappers as are point and
area symbols. First of all, these line symbols
are not as easily extended into different
dimensions as are point symbols. Second, in
order to use the overlapping technique of
area symbols, the lines have to be so wide
that they take up an inordinate amount of
space. Map makers would rather make
separate maps of the individual variables
than clutter a single map with fat line
symbols which distract from the rest of the
map information.
Quantitative Information
With quantitative multivariate symbols, as
with single-variable ones, the best map