How do I display my output from a statistical software package (e.g. SAS, S-Plus, R) on a map?
In general, it is relatively easy to export data from GIS software into a format that can be used with other software packages and import results from other software into the GIS. I prefer working with .dbf files, but the ArcGIS software does allow you to import text files as well. If I have exported data from a statistical package to a .dbf file, I will often use Microsoft Excel to format the data the way I want it. Make sure the top row are field names acceptable to .dbf files, and make sure your number fields are numbers and text fields are text. If your data includes x- and y- coordinates you can add it to your dataframe using Tools, Add XY data. You will need to specify the projection the data is in. If you want to do any analyses with the data, it is a good idea to export it as a spatial dataset (e.g. a shapefile) If your dataset includes an ID field that corresponds to an ID field in an existing spatial dataset, you can simply join the .dbf file to the attribute table of the dat
