| Abstract: | The basic principles behind a theory of scaling in cartography are outlined and illustrated with a large number of examples. The following levels of scaling are used in the transformation of “(objective) empirical systems of relationships” to “abstract systems of relationships” for the purpose of their graphic representation: nominal, ordinal, interval, proportional or ratio, and absolute. While the first four levels (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) are similar to those widely identified in the West, the absolute level represents what would be considered a special type of ratio scaling in Western practice. The paper includes criticism of certain graphic methods supposedly used by Western cartographers on maps employing the different levels of scaling (use of symbols differentiated by variations in internal structure, failure to correctly differentiate between interval, ratio, and absolute scaling, etc.). Measurement for mapping purposes should be based on careful analysis of the structure of relationships among the objects of mapping and on their preservation during numerical data transformations and graphic representation. Translated from: Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta, seriya geograficheskaya, geologicheskaya, 1986, No. 3, pp. 57-62. |
