RAPS-China
Title Page
Introduction
Main Idea
Purpose
Components / Screens
List of Variables
Development History
Statistical Measures
Programming
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Output: Examples
 
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Introduction

RAPS-China is a tool for analyzing China's regional diversity at the province level. It was researched, designed and programmed by Gerhard K. Heilig. RAPS-China continues a series CD-ROM-based software products by the author, which should help political decision makers and planners to better understand complex development problems (see also the ChinaFood CD-ROM).

The RAPS-China tool consists of six components:

1

 A statistical database with information on China at the province level. Currently, the RAPS-China database includes more than 300 carefully selected indicators (from our internal province-level database of more than 1000 variables), covering a wide range of development dimensions. The database was collected from various statistical yearbooks, reports, and other publications. Considerable effort was undertaken to compare different data sources and check the internal consistency of the data. In some cases, we included data from different sources if it was unclear which of the sources was more valid.

2

 A data management module for retrieving, sorting and filtering selected statistical indicators for the 31 provinces of Mainland China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). One can easily find statistical indicators for specific development dimensions (such as human development or environmental protection). Statistical indicators can be also selected by various criteria (such as only per capita rates, proportions or absolute numbers).

3

 A tool for constructing indices. This module allows the user to combine indicators into thematic indices. One can construct up to 6 thematic indices in one session, such as a regional "Human Development Index," an "Economic Development Index" or a "Natural Resources Index." For each index the user can select any one of the 300 odd indicators of the database.
For instance, one might calculate a regional "Human Development Index" for China by combining statistical data on "average education," "health status" and "employment." The various indicators of an index can have weights assigned individually. It is also possible to combine the various indices into one "Composite Index," which is a weighted average of up to six thematic indices (weights can be assigned to each included index).

4

 An output table module. All results are displayed in one clearly formatted output table, which includes the results of the index calculations for up to 6 thematic indices and one "Composite Index." All indices (and the associated ranking of the provinces) can be easily sorted and filtered for specific regions (such as 8 economic regions of China or the group of 12 western provinces). The user can "copy & paste" this table into any MS-Windows application (such as MS-EXCEL or MS-WORD).

5

 Visualization modules. All results can be easily visualized in various custom-designed charts and maps. These include (1) thematic maps, which can be quickly produced on screen and printed in high quality; (2) synchronized bar charts for comparing two distributions of variable or index values across provinces; (3) so-called radar charts, which display profiles of development indicators for any two provinces side-by-side on the computer screen; and (4) scatter plots, which can be used to analyze (bivariate) relationships between variable or index values across all provinces. Copy-and-paste is available for all visualizations, so that they can be easily imported into other applications (such as MS-PowerPoint or MS-Word). For the maps, we have also included a special printing utility.

6

 The RAPS-China tool also includes various utilities for editing the interactive charts and thematic maps (in particular the modification of colors and color gradients) and for printing.

Please note that RAPS-China is a tool for data mining and analysis which was developed to facilitate regional analyses and planning in China. With its open and modular design it is intended to be the center piece of a much larger system of tools and regional development models, which could be developed in the future.
In the next few months we will use the RAPS-China tool to undertake detailed analyses of China's regional diversity, as represented by inter-provincial divergences in various social, economic and environmental sectors. These analyses will try to determine the impact of multiple dimensions on China's regional development.

Heilig, G.K. (2004): RAPS-China. A Regional Analysis and Planning System. Laxenburg, Austria