Research Guides: Geospatial Data: Best Practices, Analysis, and Tools: Additional GIS Tools

Additional GIS Tools

GW also provides access to a number of databases and tools that can support students, faculty, and researchers with their GIS related projects. These resources include:

Policy Map
Policy map is ideal for projects related to community development, public health, and policy analysis. It offers rich, multi-layered mapping with over 150 data sources, including housing, income, education, and health. Users can define custom regions, upload their own datasets, and visualize intersections of up to three variables.

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Specific features include:
-Offers multi-variable spatial analysis with 3-layer mapping—ideal for identifying intersections of housing, health, and income data.
-Supports custom region creation and user data uploads, making it highly adaptable for local planning and outreach.
-Includes contemporary policy-relevant datasets from federal and nonprofit sources, with strong coverage of social determinants and quality-of-life indicators.
-Prioritizes accessibility and usability, making it great for students starting out on geographic visualization projects.
Social Explorer
Social Explorer is a high quality tool for historical and longitudinal demographic research. It provides access to U.S. Decennial Census data from 1790 to 2010 and American Community Survey data from 2005 onward. Specialized datasets include crime, elections, religion, and health rankings—mostly at the county level. This resources is a great tool for tracking demographic change over time and visualizing historical patterns with tract-level precision.

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Specific features include:
-Provides deep historical coverage of U.S. Census data from 1790 onward, essential for longitudinal research and historical context.
-Includes specialized datasets (e.g. religion, crime, elections, health rankings) that are not available in other platforms.
-Offers tract-level historical data aligned to modern geographies, enabling consistent spatial comparisons over time.
-Best suited for demographic storytelling, historical mapping, and academic research requiring time-series data.
SimplyAnalytics
SimplyAnalytics is a tool that supports business, marketing, and consumer behavior analysis. It integrates proprietary datasets like Nielsen PRIZM, MRI Consumer Survey, and EASI Life Stage data. Users can map over 4.5 million businesses and points of interest, with detailed contact and market segmentation information.

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Specific features include:
-Delivers proprietary consumer and market segmentation data (Nielsen PRIZM, MRI, EASI), crucial for business planning and behavioral analysis.
-Enables point-level business mapping with over 4.5 million U.S. businesses and POIs, including contact and industry info.
-Supports media and lifestyle targeting, making it indispensable for marketing, outreach strategy, and commercial feasibility studies.
-Unique in its integration of psychographic and consumer survey data, which complements demographic insights with behavioral nuance.