This article was downloaded by: [University of Connecticut]On: 10 October 2014, At: 18:35Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

The Journal of EconomicEducationPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vece20

GeoFRED™: A Picture Is Worth aThousand WordsMary C. Suiter & Katrina Stierholz aa Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouisPublished online: 08 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Mary C. Suiter & Katrina Stierholz (2009) GeoFRED™: A PictureIs Worth a Thousand Words, The Journal of Economic Education, 40:4, 446-446, DOI:10.1080/00220480903297685

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220480903297685

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and viewsexpressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of theContent should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of theContent.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan,

sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone isexpressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

onne

ctic

ut]

at 1

8:35

10

Oct

ober

201

4

OnlineThe Online section of the Journal of Economic Education identifies exemplarymaterial for teaching and learning economics that is interactive or otherwise notconducive for the printed page. URLs for these Web sites are identified in thedescriptive notes

WILLIAM GOFFE, Section Editor

GeoFREDTM: A Picture Is Worth aThousand Words

Mary C. Suiter and Katrina Stierholz

URL: http://geofred.stlouisfed.org/

Most economists are comfortable with tables of data and graphs, but often studentsare not. Frequently, students are more comfortable viewing data in another format.The GeoFRED Web page provides an application that allows users to createchoropleth maps—thematic maps based on a particular set of data. In this case,maps are created using U.S. economic data for geographies including states,counties, metropolitan statistical areas, basic trading areas, census areas, andBureau of Economic Analysis economic areas. Maps can be created from morethan 214 regional data series available in the Federal Reserve Economic Data(FRED) database. Regional data series include civilian labor force, residentialpopulation, and unemployment rate. Various tools allow users to customize andprint these maps.

In addition to using the map, users can view and print the data charts andeasily link to graphs of the data through FRED. The “Help” section providesconcise information on how to use the editing tools and provides a glossary ofterms related to the mapping tool (e.g., fractile and equal interval, which refer todifferent methods of categorizing data).

There is also a link to “Lessons for Educators,” which offers active lessonsfor integrating economics and geography using GeoFRED. Comparing and con-trasting these data maps for various years or regions can provide opportunity forstudent discussion, analysis, and writing.

Mary C. Suiter (e-mail: mary.c.suiter@stls.frb.org) is the manager of economic education and KatrinaStierholz is a research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Copyright C© 2009 HeldrefPublications

446 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f C

onne

ctic

ut]

at 1

8:35

10

Oct

ober

201

4