From CCA:
Socioeconomic Data and Applications Centre, or SEDAC, is a branch of NASA that offers geospatial on human interactions with the environment. World datasets that are available for download include population and urban development and wilderness areas. Other data focus on a specific area of the world. Most of the datasets seem to be in some sort of grid or e00 format. Some of the sites also offer maps of the data.http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/  SEDAC Projects are designed to help users synthesize and apply earth science and socioeconomic data and information in their research, educational activities, analysis and decision making. These projects include data products and applications that address various types of interdisciplinary data integration."

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Just ran across this interesting book related to GIS and Social Science applications.


http://www.csiss.org/best-practices/siss/
CSISS Best Practice Publications:
Spatially Integrated Social Science

Edited by Michael F. Goodchild and Donald G. Janelle
Oxford University Press, 2004

Table of Contents

Foreword: Norman Bradburn
Preface

Chapter

1. Thinking Spatially in the Social Sciences
   Michael F. Goodchild and Donald G. Janelle
2. Inferring the Behavior of Households from Remotely Sensed Changes in Land Cover:
   Current Methods and Future Directions
   Bruce Boucek and Emilio F. Moran
3. Geo-visualization of Human Activity Patterns Using 3-D GIS: A Time-Geographic Approach
   Mei-Po Kwan and Jiyeong Lee
4. Agent-Based Modeling: From Individual Residential Choice to Urban Residential Dynamics
   Itzhak Benenson
5. Too Much of the Wrong Kind of Data: Implications for the Practice of Micro-Scale Spatial Modeling
   David O'Sullivan
6. Identifying Ethnic Neighborhoods with Census Data: Group Concentration and Spatial Clustering
   John R. Logan and Wenquan Zhang
7. Spatial Analyses of Homicide with Areal Data
   Steven F. Messner and Luc Anselin
8. Spatial (Dis)Advantage and Homicide in Chicago Neighborhoods
   Robert J. Sampson and Jeffrey D. Morenoff
9. Measuring Spatial Diffusion of Shots Fired Activity Across City Neighborhoods
   George Tita and Jacqueline Cohen
10. The Spatial Structure of Urban Political Discussion Networks
    Munroe Eagles, Paul Bélanger, and Hugh W. Calkins
11. Mapping Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Developing Countries: Spatial Patterns of São Paulo in the 1990s
    Gilberto Câmara, Aldaiza Sposati, Dirce Koga, Antonio Miguel Monteiro, Frederico Roman Ramos,
    Eduardo Camargo, and Suzana Druck Fuks
12. Business Location and Spatial Externalities: Tying Concepts to Measures
    Stuart H. Sweeney and Edward J. Feser
13. Updating Spatial Perspectives and Analytical Frameworks in Urban Research
    Qing Shen
14. Spatial Analysis of Regional Income Inequality
    Sergio J. Rey
15. Shaping Policy Decisions with Spatial Analysis
    Ted K. Bradshaw and Brian Muller
16. Geographical Approaches for Reconstructing Past Human Behavior from Prehistoric Roadways
    John Kantner
17. Time, Space, and Archaeological Landscapes: Establishing Connections in the First Millennium BC
    Patrick Daly and Gary Lock
18. Spatial Perspectives in Public Health
    Anthony C. Gatrell and Janette E. Rigby
19. The Role of Spatial Analysis in Demographic Research
    John R. Weeks
20. Spatial Interaction Models of International Telecommunication Flows
    Jean-Michel Guldmann
21. Planning Scenario Visualization and Assessment:
    A Cellular Automata Based Integrated Spatial Decision Support System
    Roger White, Bas Straatman, and Guy Engelen

Just ran across this interesting book related to GIS and Social Science applications.


http://www.csiss.org/best-practices/siss/
CSISS Best Practice Publications:
Spatially Integrated Social Science

Edited by Michael F. Goodchild and Donald G. Janelle
Oxford University Press, 2004

Table of Contents

Foreword: Norman Bradburn
Preface

Chapter

1. Thinking Spatially in the Social Sciences
   Michael F. Goodchild and Donald G. Janelle
2. Inferring the Behavior of Households from Remotely Sensed Changes in Land Cover:
   Current Methods and Future Directions
   Bruce Boucek and Emilio F. Moran
3. Geo-visualization of Human Activity Patterns Using 3-D GIS: A Time-Geographic Approach
   Mei-Po Kwan and Jiyeong Lee
4. Agent-Based Modeling: From Individual Residential Choice to Urban Residential Dynamics
   Itzhak Benenson
5. Too Much of the Wrong Kind of Data: Implications for the Practice of Micro-Scale Spatial Modeling
   David O'Sullivan
6. Identifying Ethnic Neighborhoods with Census Data: Group Concentration and Spatial Clustering
   John R. Logan and Wenquan Zhang
7. Spatial Analyses of Homicide with Areal Data
   Steven F. Messner and Luc Anselin
8. Spatial (Dis)Advantage and Homicide in Chicago Neighborhoods
   Robert J. Sampson and Jeffrey D. Morenoff
9. Measuring Spatial Diffusion of Shots Fired Activity Across City Neighborhoods
   George Tita and Jacqueline Cohen
10. The Spatial Structure of Urban Political Discussion Networks
    Munroe Eagles, Paul Bélanger, and Hugh W. Calkins
11. Mapping Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Developing Countries: Spatial Patterns of São Paulo in the 1990s
    Gilberto Câmara, Aldaiza Sposati, Dirce Koga, Antonio Miguel Monteiro, Frederico Roman Ramos,
    Eduardo Camargo, and Suzana Druck Fuks
12. Business Location and Spatial Externalities: Tying Concepts to Measures
    Stuart H. Sweeney and Edward J. Feser
13. Updating Spatial Perspectives and Analytical Frameworks in Urban Research
    Qing Shen
14. Spatial Analysis of Regional Income Inequality
    Sergio J. Rey
15. Shaping Policy Decisions with Spatial Analysis
    Ted K. Bradshaw and Brian Muller
16. Geographical Approaches for Reconstructing Past Human Behavior from Prehistoric Roadways
    John Kantner
17. Time, Space, and Archaeological Landscapes: Establishing Connections in the First Millennium BC
    Patrick Daly and Gary Lock
18. Spatial Perspectives in Public Health
    Anthony C. Gatrell and Janette E. Rigby
19. The Role of Spatial Analysis in Demographic Research
    John R. Weeks
20. Spatial Interaction Models of International Telecommunication Flows
    Jean-Michel Guldmann
21. Planning Scenario Visualization and Assessment:
    A Cellular Automata Based Integrated Spatial Decision Support System
    Roger White, Bas Straatman, and Guy Engelen

Just ran across this interesting book related to GIS and Social Science applications.


http://www.csiss.org/best-practices/siss/
CSISS Best Practice Publications:
Spatially Integrated Social Science

Edited by Michael F. Goodchild and Donald G. Janelle
Oxford University Press, 2004

Table of Contents

Foreword: Norman Bradburn
Preface

Chapter

1. Thinking Spatially in the Social Sciences
   Michael F. Goodchild and Donald G. Janelle
2. Inferring the Behavior of Households from Remotely Sensed Changes in Land Cover:
   Current Methods and Future Directions
   Bruce Boucek and Emilio F. Moran
3. Geo-visualization of Human Activity Patterns Using 3-D GIS: A Time-Geographic Approach
   Mei-Po Kwan and Jiyeong Lee
4. Agent-Based Modeling: From Individual Residential Choice to Urban Residential Dynamics
   Itzhak Benenson
5. Too Much of the Wrong Kind of Data: Implications for the Practice of Micro-Scale Spatial Modeling
   David O'Sullivan
6. Identifying Ethnic Neighborhoods with Census Data: Group Concentration and Spatial Clustering
   John R. Logan and Wenquan Zhang
7. Spatial Analyses of Homicide with Areal Data
   Steven F. Messner and Luc Anselin
8. Spatial (Dis)Advantage and Homicide in Chicago Neighborhoods
   Robert J. Sampson and Jeffrey D. Morenoff
9. Measuring Spatial Diffusion of Shots Fired Activity Across City Neighborhoods
   George Tita and Jacqueline Cohen
10. The Spatial Structure of Urban Political Discussion Networks
    Munroe Eagles, Paul Bélanger, and Hugh W. Calkins
11. Mapping Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Developing Countries: Spatial Patterns of São Paulo in the 1990s
    Gilberto Câmara, Aldaiza Sposati, Dirce Koga, Antonio Miguel Monteiro, Frederico Roman Ramos,
    Eduardo Camargo, and Suzana Druck Fuks
12. Business Location and Spatial Externalities: Tying Concepts to Measures
    Stuart H. Sweeney and Edward J. Feser
13. Updating Spatial Perspectives and Analytical Frameworks in Urban Research
    Qing Shen
14. Spatial Analysis of Regional Income Inequality
    Sergio J. Rey
15. Shaping Policy Decisions with Spatial Analysis
    Ted K. Bradshaw and Brian Muller
16. Geographical Approaches for Reconstructing Past Human Behavior from Prehistoric Roadways
    John Kantner
17. Time, Space, and Archaeological Landscapes: Establishing Connections in the First Millennium BC
    Patrick Daly and Gary Lock
18. Spatial Perspectives in Public Health
    Anthony C. Gatrell and Janette E. Rigby
19. The Role of Spatial Analysis in Demographic Research
    John R. Weeks
20. Spatial Interaction Models of International Telecommunication Flows
    Jean-Michel Guldmann
21. Planning Scenario Visualization and Assessment:
    A Cellular Automata Based Integrated Spatial Decision Support System
    Roger White, Bas Straatman, and Guy Engelen