Filtering with geospatial data

This article is for Citizen Space Geospatial. Please speak to your customer success manager if you are interested in learning more about it.

This article assumes you are familiar with the basics of response filtering, as covered by:

You can use the filtering tools to narrow down your geospatial responses based on filter queries of your other quantitative answers within the survey and then view those on the map.

You can filter the answers from your 'Geo select' questions (the 'select an answer from the map' interaction type).

You can also narrow your results by drawing a 'filter area'. This allows you to only show responses which are located inside a specific geographical region.

In this article we’ll look at:

Adding a filter area

To add a filter area, select a mapping question using the filter at the top of Responses Organised by Question either or Responses Organised by Respondent. Select 'Add filter', followed by 'Edit filter area'.

Analyse repsonses by questions screen with the edit filter area selected to filter question responses by an area. Screenshot.

From the 'Edit filter area' page you can draw a shape to represent the filter area and then select 'Apply'.

A filter area is added drawing the shape of a rectangle on the Bristol map to see only the responses within the filtered area.

The filter listing will then show a preview of the filter area you have drawn, and the results will update to include only those responses which are contained within (or, in the case of lines or areas, intersect with) the filter area.

The resulting filtered responses from the drawn filtered area - the responses within the area now have a dark blue colour with a list of the responses in a table below the map.

For example

In the following example, respondents were asked to identify land or sites that were available to be developed for a variety of purposes.

From the 'Responses Organised by Question' page we have chosen a quantitive question titled 'What type of development do you propose the site is suitable for?' We have then chosen to filter by a mapping page question titled: 'Please mark your site boundary on the map.' 

We have used the 'Edit filter area' to isolate the region close to the main train station, allowing us to see the 'Proposed usage' for sites submitted in this location.

The filtered results screen which shows the map along with the relevant responses in a table below. Screenshot.

Filtering with multiple mapping questions

If your survey contains multiple mapping questions, it is possible to filter the results of one mapping question using a filter area defined on a different mapping question. This is a perfectly valid option, but can lead to some confusing results if the two map questions cover significantly different geographical regions. 

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