Is GIS a Science?

Is GIS a Science?

In my personal experience in GIS classes, GIS can be considered a science. This is particularly true when there is an emphasis on documentation and reproducibility. When considering Wright’s (1997) definitions of formal science (purely abstract thought such as mathematics or physics), compared to substantive science (phenomena that exist outside of thought in the natural world), GIS frequently fits into the category of the latter. Furthermore, since GIS analysis is grounded in place, I think that it can best be described as a substantive science. This grounding in place and physical phenomena, along with efforts in GIS classes to encourage students to make workflows categorize GIS more as a scientific discipline in my mind.

However, in the world of corporate GIS, at companies such as ESRI, GIS is often framed as a singular technology that is universally applicable for problem solving. In this regard, GIS is both framed and used as one tool in a tool-box for better understanding spatial data.

I have been drawn to GIS over disciplines such as mathematics where there often appears to be one route to achieving a ‘correct’ solution. Instead, in my experience doing GIS, there are frequently a variety of methods to conduct an analysis and I appreciate that feeling of freedom when problem solving. I also appreciate the wide diversity of real-world applications of GIS, that it is not a singular technology that is progressing along a linear path, but is being adapted to a diversity of applications to meet the demands of challenges facing the world. I feel uneasy about the colonial roots of GIS and the ethical impacts of when GIS is used in the surveillance of people and for military purposes. I thought it was interesting how St. Martin and Wing (2007) highlighted the ways in which corporations are marketing an array of GIS products as a singular entity, and I am curious if these marketing strategies have persisted to this day as GIS softwares have further developed capabilities.

Martin, K. S., & Wing, J. (2007). The discourse and discipline of GIS. Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization, 42(3), 235-248.

Wright, D. J., M. F. Goodchild, and J. D. Proctor. (1997). GIS: Tool or science? Demystifying the persistent ambiguity of GIS as “tool” versus “science.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 87 (2):346–362. DOI:10.1111/0004-5608.872057