Cal State Long Beach sociology professor Andrew Lohmann shared research findings with students and faculty in the psychology department on Wednesday.
Professor Andrew Lohmann presented his research of calculating neighborhood size by using Global Information Software to develop neighborhood maps for research. GIS helps to create greater accuracy in defining neighborhoods, Lohmann said.
Lohmann’s hour-long presentation, “Neighborhoods and the Impact of a New Freeway on Sense of Community” redefined what a neighborhood is. He raised the point that it is possible to inaccurately define the concept of neighborhoods.
GIS allows him to analyze different parts of neighborhoods by using different information about neighborhoods and thus more accurately.
Lohmann enters neighborhoods as polygons (shapes) into GIS, the neighborhood polygons are pixelized, then each pixel is given a value based on the neighborhood’s sense of community (SOC). Finally pixels are averaged by total of SOC divided by total number of cases.
Lohmann said it was important to define neighborhoods more accurately through GIS because social programs in neighborhoods are very costly. In the future he hopes to put in more psychological context in neighborhoods so most appropriate social programs can be developed to serve people’s needs more accurately.
Lohmann said today’s approach of how to define a neighborhood yields overlooking of other neighborhoods. As an illustration, GIS can catch neighborhoods with a high sense of community but also who are different in economic status. Alternatively, different people with similar levels of income can be part of different neighborhoods. GIS will help with that.
“I found his topic interesting and it is new to me,” said Rebecca Ruiz, a junior psychology major.
Dr. Courtney Ahrens invited Lohmann to do his presentation on his dissertation. Lohmann enjoys sharing ideas and research with students and faculty. Lohmann just had a new article published in the most recent issue of Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community on his research findings.
Lohmann began as a lecturer in the sociology department in 2001 when he was still working on his dissertation until 2006. He moved to the psychology department in 2005, and is still searching for a more permanent faculty position somewhere. “Ultimately, I suppose psychology was the missing piece for me to frame the rest of my educational background,” Lohmann said.
Lohmann holds his B.A. in International Relations from Binghamton University, N.Y., his Master’s in Public Administration from North Carolina State University, and his Ph.D in psychology from Claremont Graduate University.
