Mapping the Credit Crunch - MapTube on the BBC

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With a slightly different hat on from our normal urban visualisation work we also run our National Centre for e-Social Science grant here at CASA. One of the biggest successes of the grant has been MapTube which is based on our GMap Creater software developed by Richard Milton here in the lab.

An up and coming feature of MapTube is the ability to carry out near real-time geographic surveys, the latest of which is the new Credit Crunch Survey by the BBC Radio 4 PM show.

Key to public surveys and getting enough inputs to get a nationwide view is exposure, thankfully our latest survey is currently featured on the main BBC frontpage, significantly increasing traffic and thus survey results.

See the BBC iPM page for full details on the survey.


On a more regional level we are also running a survey to map peoples views on job security in association with BBC Look East. See the BBC Look East page for more details.

If you would like to know more take a look at our online publications page as we talk about MapTube in a number of the latest papers..

Mapping the Credit Crunch: Mapping the UK's Mood with Radio 4

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Over the last few weeks Radio 4's PM show has been carrying out a survey on the UK's fears on the Credit Crunch. In association with our MapTube site at CASA listeners were asked for the first part of their postcode and to answer the following question:

What single factor is hurting you most about the credit crunch?

Please select one of the answers below:

Mortgage or Rent
Fuel
Food Prices
Holidays
Other
The Credit Crunch is not affecting me

We generated a new map every 30 minutes, providing an up to date view of the nations mood.


The results are fascinating, with over 22,000 responses 49% were most worried about fuel price with food running in second at 19%. The interesting part for us is to view these results both statistically and geographically as the results come in, to date the breakdown is as follows:


You can view the map at http://www.maptube.org with full details on the BBC's iPM page - of note is the rural/urban split with urban areas being notably more worried about mortgage or rent payments compared to other areas of the UK.