RBKC map out public opinion using Snap alongside GIS
April 2006
You’ve probably heard on the grapevine about GIS and its uses, but did you know that you could use this system alongside Snap software?
A Geographical Information System (GIS) is a software system used across a whole host of sectors including Market Research, Education, Police, Fire and Local Authorities. It is a tool that allows information to be linked to a geographical location and enables people to visualise complex facts. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, a Local Authority in the UK, has adopted this system and uses it in conjunction with Snap software to map consultations within their Transportation and Highways department.
Shirley Long, Special Projects Consultant at the council has been using Snap software for over three years and is in charge of consulting the public on certain issues. In the past year, the department has sent out around 50,000 surveys and can often deal with four large projects every year. Shirley is currently surveying the community on whether there should be parking controls on Sundays and is targeting specific geographical areas within the council’s remit to do this. There are approximately 174,400 people at present residing in the borough so Shirley isolates an area she needs to consult, then draws a polygon around this section in GIS to extract the demographic details. GIS assigns a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) for each postal address, which is included on the return label of each survey. This allows each survey to be uniquely identified thus eliminating mistakes. Shirley utilises SurveyShop, Snap’s outsourcing division to key in the large volume of responses using only the UPRN, which speeds up the whole process. Once the data is sent back, Shirley uses the hot link capability in Snap to link with the GIS database. This scans and identifies the UPRN and automatically pulls the demographic details across into Snap for analysis. Shirley explains “This is a very cost effective method and there is virtually no margin for error.”
As an optional extra, Shirley uses spatial analysis, which is the process of analysing model results or geographical data. The data is easily exported from Snap into Excel and then sent to the council’s GIS team who use the UPRN to plot the responses on a map. Shirley picks out a key question and the variables are then colour coded so that you can clearly see the voting response. The department uses this system as “It makes analysis a lot more visual and easier to understand especially when covering large areas. The Councillors find it really useful as they can quickly locate hot spots that are either for or against an issue, rather than sifting through reports.”
Shirley says about Snap: “I have been using Snap for some years and am constantly impressed with the ease of use and speed of the software, as well as its range of analysis options. Both paper based and online questionnaires can be produced quickly and easily. I would also like to commend SurveyShop who I use for data input. They are helpful, knowledgeable and always deliver on time. All in all, an excellent piece of software with superb support staff.”