Ethical Spatial Analysis: Addressing Endogenous Bias Through Visual Analytics

Abstract Spatial analysis can generate both exogenous and endogenous bia ses, which will lead to ethics issues. Exogenous biases arise from external factors or environments and are unrelated to internal operating mechanisms, while endogenous biases stem from internal processes or technologies. Although much attention has been given to exogenous biases, endogenous biases in spatial analysis have been largely overlooked, and a comprehensive methodology for addressing them is yet to be developed. To tackle this challenge, we propose that visual analytics can play a key role in understanding geographic data and improving the interpretation of analytical results. In this study, we conducted a preliminary investigation using various visualization techniques to explore endogenous biases. Our findings demonstrate the potential of visual analytics to uncover hidden biases and identify associated issues. Additionally, we synthesized these visualization strategies into a framework that approximates a method for detecting endogenous biases. We conducted a user study to validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Through this work, we advocate for the integration of visualization at three critical stages of spatial analysis in order to minimize errors, address ethical concerns, and reduce misinterpretations associated with endogenous biases.