Key Methods in Geography
Second Edition
Edited by
Nicholas Clifford,
Shaun French and Gill Valentine
Editorial arrangement and Introduction © Nick Clifford, Shaun French and Gill Valentine 2010
Chapter 1 © Nick Clifford, Shaun French and Gill
Valentine 2010
Chapter 2 © Mick Healey and
Ruth L. Healey 2010
Chapter 3 © Iain Hay 2010
Chapter 4 © Joanna Bullard 2010
Chapter 5 © Paul White 2010
Chapter 6 © Sara L. McLafferty 2010
Chapter 7 © Miles Ogborn 2010
Chapter 8 © Robyn Longhurst 2010
Chapter 9 © Eric Laurier 2010
Chapter 10 © Rob Bartram 2010
Chapter 11 © Myrna M. Breitbart 2010
Chapter 12 © Fiona M. Smith 2010
Chapter 13 © Clare Madge 2010
Chapter 14 © Alan Latham 2010
Chapter 15 © Catherine Souch 2010
Chapter 16 © Alice Turkington 2010
Chapter 17 © Stephen Rice 2010
Chapter 18 © Ellen Wohl 2010
Chapter 19 © Stuart N. Lane 2010
Chapter 20 © Paul Aplin 2010
Chapter 21 © Richard Field 2010
Chapter 22 © Chris Perkins 2010
Chapter 23 © Danny Dorling 2010
Chapter 24 © Adrian Chappell 2010
Chapter 25 © Michael Batty 2010
Chapter 26 © John H. McKendrick 2010
Chapter 27 © Meghan Cope 2010
Chapter 28 © Bettina van Hoven 2010
Chapter 29 © Iain S. Black 2010
Chapter 30 © Marcus Doel 2010
Chapter 31 © Michael Bradford 2010
Chapter 32 © Robin A. Kearns 2010
First published 2010
Contents
Notes on Contributors ix
List of Figures xvi
List of Tables xix
Acknowledgements xxi
Getting Started in Geographical research 1
1 Getting Started in Geographical Research:
how this book can help 3
Nick Clifford, Shaun French and Gill Valentine
2 How to Conduct a Literature Search 16
Mick Healey and Ruth L. Healey
3 Ethical Practice in Geographical Research 35
Iain Hay
4 Health and Safety in the Field 49
Joanna Bullard
Generating and working with data in
human geography 59
5 Making Use of Secondary Data 61
Paul White
6 Conducting Questionnaire Surveys 77
Sara L. McLafferty
7 Finding Historical Sources 89
Miles Ogborn
8 Semi-structured Interviews and Focus Groups 103
Robyn Longhurst
9 Participant Observation 116
Eric Laurier
10 Geography and the Interpretation of Visual Imagery 131
Rob Bartram
11 Participatory Research Methods 141
Myrna M. Breitbart
12 Working in Different Cultures 157
Fiona M. Smith
13 Internet Mediated Research 173
Clare Madge
14 Diaries as a Research Method 189
Alan Latham
Generating and working with data in
physical geography 203
15 Getting Information about the Past: Palaeo and Historical 205
Data Sources of Climate
Catherine Souch
16 Making Observations and Measurements in the Field 220
Alice Turkington
17 Sampling in Geography 230
Stephen Rice
18 Analysing a Natural System 253
Ellen Wohl
19 Numerical Modelling in Physical Geography: Understanding
Explanation and Prediction in Physical Geography 274
Stuart N. Lane
20 Using Remotely Sensed Imagery 299
Paul Aplin
Representing and interpreting geographical data 315
21 Data Handling and Representation 317
Richard Field
22 Mapping and Graphicacy 350
Chris Perkins
23 Using Statistics to Describe and Explore Data 374
Danny Dorling
24 An Introduction to Geostatistics 386
Adrian Chappell
25 Using Geographical Information Systems 408
Michael Batty
26 Statistical Analysis Using PASW (formerly SPSS) 423
John H. McKendrick
27 Coding Transcripts and Diaries 440
Meghan Cope
28 Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis 453
Bettina van Hoven
29 Analysing Historical and Archival Sources 466
Iain S. Black
30 Analysing Cultural Texts 485
Marcus A. Doel
31 Writing Essays, Reports and Dissertations 497
Michael Bradford
32 Understanding Assessment 513
Robin A. Kearns
Glossary 528
Index 537
Getting Started in Geographical
Research: how this book
can help
Nick Clifford, Shaun French and Gill Valentine
Synopsis Geography is a very diverse subject that includes studies of human behaviour and the physical environment. It is also a discipline that embraces a very diverse range of philosophical approaches to knowledge (from positivism to post-structuralism). As such, geographers employ quantitative methods (statistics and mathematical modelling) and qualitative methods (a set of techniques that are used to explore subjective meanings, values and emotions such as interviewing, participant observation and visual imagery) or a combination of the two. These methods can be used in both extensive research designs (where the emphasis is on pattern and regularity in large ‘representative’ data sets, which is assumed to represent the outcome of some underlying (causal) regularity or process) and intensive research designs (where the emphasis is on describing a single case study, or small number of case studies, with the maximum amount of detail). Yet, despite this diversity, all geographers, whatever their philosophical or methodological approach, must make common decisions and go through common processes when they are embarking on their research. This means doing preparatory work (a literature review, thinking about health and safety and research ethics); thinking through the practicalities of data collection (whether to do original fieldwork or rely on secondary sources; whether to use quantitative or qualitative methods or a combination of both); planning how to manage and analyse the data generated from these techniques; and thinking about how to present/write up the findings of the research. This chapter aims to guide you through these choices if you are doing research for a project or dissertation. In doing so, it explains the structure and content of this book and points you in the direction of which chapters to turn to for advice on different forms of research techniques and analysis. The main topics of the chapter are:
• Introduction: the nature of geographical research
• Quantitative and qualitative approaches to geography
• Designing a geographical research project
• The philosophy of research and importance of research design
• Conclusion: how this book can help you get started
introduction: the nature of geographical research
This book aims to help you prepare for, design and carry out geographical research, and to analyse and present your findings. Geographers have given attention to an enormous range of subject matter. Most aspects of the world, whether physically or environmentally determined, or politically, economically or culturally constructed, have been considered as suitable for geographical research. Moreover, the range of geographical enquiry continues to increase. Traditionally, geographers considered the contemporary human and physical world together with their historical configurations, thus extending geographies to the past as well as to the present. Now, in both physical and human geography, the range is even greater (see, for example, Walford and Haggett, 1995; Gregory, 2000; Thrift, 2002; Gregory 2009). Physical geographers have access to new techniques of absolute and relative environmental dating, and greater ability to gather, analyse and visualize large amounts of data. They can reconstruct palaeoenvironments and landform development, as well as model this into the future, over timescales ranging from years to geological epochs. Physical geography is increasingly conducted under the umbrella of ‘Earth System Science’ which stresses interconnections between bio-physical atmospheric and earth science, and also includes human activity as a driver or response to earth and environmental change (Pitman, 2005). In human geography, technological advances in areas such as GIS allow more flexible and more creative analysis of data, facilitating ‘virtual geographies’ which exist only in ‘hyperspace’. For the less technically minded, the subject is probing areas traditionally within the domains of psychology and cultural anthropology: there are now, for example, imagined and mystic geographies, whose foundations, or connections with the ‘real’ world are almost entirely interpretational, rather than empirical. All of these new areas of geographical exploration bring challenges of interpretation, as methods of research associated with them may be radically different (even fundamentally irreconcilable with one another), or so new that they have yet to be formalized into transferable schemes to inform other research programmes.
Until the 1980s, geography was cast largely as either a physical (environmental or geological) science, a social science, or some combination of the two. This implied a commonality of objective, if not entirely of method: there was a shared commitment to the goal of ‘general’ explanation. More recently, however, some would dispute the use of the term ‘science’ in any of its forms in certain areas of subject (for an excellent introduction to debates surrounding science – its meaning, construction and application – see Chalmers, 1990). Instead, the ‘cultural’ turn in human geography (which in part reflects the growing influence of feminist and post-structural approaches) has brought a new emphasis on meanings, representation, emotions and so on that is more readily associated with the arts. (These issues are discussed in more detail by Barnes (2001) and in various chapters in Clifford et al., 2009.)
Given the breadth of geographical enquiry, it is not surprising that the subject is similarly broad with respect to the methods it employs, and the philosophical and ethical stances it adopts. This book reflects the diversity of contemporary geography, both in the number, and the range, of chapters which it contains. In this chapter, we want to briefly introduce you to different approaches to research methods and design, and to offer some guidance on how you might develop your own research design for a geographical project using this book.
Quantitative and qualitative approaches to geography
The chapters in the book loosely deal with two forms of data collection/analysis: quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques. Quantitative methods involve the use of physical (science) concepts and reasoning, mathematical modelling and statistical techniques to understand geographical phenomena. These form the basis of most research in physical geography. They first began to be adopted by human geographers in the 1950s, but it was in the 1960s – a period dubbed the ‘quantitative revolution’ – that their application became both more widespread and more sophisticated in Anglo-American geography. It was at this time that, influenced by the ‘scientific’ approaches to human behaviour that were being adopted by social sciences such as economics and psychology, some human geographers began to be concerned with scientific rigour in their own research. In particular, they began to use quantitative methods to develop hypotheses and to explain, predict and model human spatial behaviour and decision making (Johnston, 2003). (Collectively, the adoption of ‘objective’, quantified means of collecting data, hypothesis testing and generalizing explanations is known as positivism.) Much of this work was applied to planning and locational decision making (Abler et al., 1971; Haggett, 1965).
In the 1970s, however, some geographers began to criticize positivist approaches to geography, particularly the application of ‘objective’ scientific methods that conceptualized people as rational actors (Cloke et al., 1991).. Rather, geographers adopting a humanistic approach argued that human behaviour is, in fact, subjective, complex, messy, irrational and contradictory. As such, humanistic geographers began to draw on methods that would allow them to explore the meanings, emotions, intentions and values that make up our taken-for-granted lifeworlds (Ley, 1974; Seamon, 1979). These included methods such as in-depth interviews, participant observation and focus groups. At the same time, Marxist geographers criticized the apolitical nature of positivist approaches, accusing those who adopted them for failing to recognize the way that scientific methods, and the spatial laws and models they produced, might reproduce capitalism (Harvey, 1973). More recently, feminist and post-structuralist approaches to geography have criticized the ‘grand theories’ of positivism and Marxism, and their failure to recognize people’s multiple subjectivities. Instead, the emphasis is on refining qualitative methods to allow the voice of informants to be heard in ways which are non-exploitative or oppressive (WGSG, 1997; Moss, 2001) and to focus on the politics of knowledge production, particularly in terms of the positionality of the researcher and the way ‘other’ people and places are represented (articles in a special issue of Environment and Planning: D, 1992; Moss, 2001).
Humanistic inquiry did not just prompt interest in people’s own account of their experiences, but also in how these experiences are represented in texts, literature, art, fiction and so on (Pocock, 1981; Daniels, 1985). Again, such visual methodologies have also been informed and developed by the emergence of poststructuralist approaches to geography which have further stimulated human geographers’ concerns with issues of representation.
Despite the evolving nature of geographical thought and practice, both quantitative and qualitative approaches remain important within the discipline of Geography. While taken at face value they appear to be incompatible ways of ‘doing’ research, it is important not to see these two approaches as binary opposites. Subjective concerns often inform the development and use of quantitative methods. Likewise, it is also possible to work with qualitative material in quite scientific ways. Whatever methods are adopted, some degree of philosophical reflection is required to make sense of the research process. Equally, the two approaches are often combined in research designs in a process known as mixing methods (see below).
Designing a geographical research project
Faced with a bewildering array of possibilities, both in what to study and in how to approach this study, it may seem that geographical research is difficult to do well. However, the very range of geographical enquiry is also a source of excitement and encouragement. The key is to harness this variety, rather than to be overwhelmed by it. Essentially, geographical research requires perhaps more thought than any of the other human or physical academic disciplines. Whether this thought is exercised with the assistance of some formal scheme of how to structure the research programme, or whether it is exercised self-critically, or reflexively in a much less formal sense, is less important than the awareness of the opportunities, limitations and context of the research question chosen, the appropriateness of the research methods selected, the range of techniques used to gather, sort and display information, and ultimately, the manner and intent with which the research findings are presented. For student projects, these questions are as much determined by practical considerations, such as the time available for the project, or the funding to undertake the research. These limitations should be built into the project at an early stage, so that the likely quality of the outcomes can be judged in advance. None of the constraints should be used after the research is completed to justify a partial answer or unnecessarily restricted project.
The ‘scientific’ view
Conventionally, geographical research programmes have been presented as a sequence of steps, or procedures (Haring and Lounsbury, 1983 – see below). These steps were based upon the premise that geography was an essentially scientific activity, that is, a subject identifying research questions, testing hypotheses regarding possible causal relationships, and presenting the results with some sort of more general (normative) statement or context. The aim of separating tasks was to enable time (and money) to be budgeted effectively between each, and to encourage a structuring of the thought processes underpinning the research.
The steps identified in this form of ‘scientific geographic research’ (Haring and Lounsbury, 1983) are as follows:
• Formulation of the research problem – which means asking a question in a precise, testable manner, and which requires consideration of the place and time-scale of the work.
• Definition of hypotheses – the generation of one or more assumptions which are used as the basis of investigation, and which are subsequently tested by the research.
• Determination of the type of data to be collected – how much, in what manner is sampling or measurement to be done.
• Collection of data – either primary from the field or archive, or secondary, from the analysis of published materials.
• Analysis and processing of the data – selecting appropriate quantitative and presentational techniques.
• Stating conclusions – nowadays, this might also include the presentation of findings verbally or in publication.
Today, there is more recognition that these tasks are not truly independent, and that an element of reflexivity might usefully be incorporated in this process. In some areas of the subject – particularly human geography – the entire notion of a formalized procedure or sequence would be considered unnecessary, and the notion of normative, problem-solving science would, at best, be considered applicable to a restricted range of subjects and methodology. Rather, as outlined above, many human geographers now reject or are sceptical of scientific approaches to human behaviour, preferring to adopt a more subjective approach to their research. Nevertheless, having said this, most qualitative research also involves many of the same steps outlined in the mechanical or scientific formulation above – albeit not conceptualized in quite the same way. For example, qualitative researchers also need to think about what research questions to ask, what data need to be collected and how this material should be analysed and presented. In other words, all research in Geography – whatever its philosophical stance – involves thinking about the relationships between methods, techniques, analysis and interpretation. This important role is filled by research design.
The importance of research design
In its broadest sense, research design results from a series of decisions we make as researchers. These decisions flow from our knowledge of the academic literature (see Chapter 2), the research questions we want to ask, our conceptual framework, and our knowledge of the advantage and disadvantages of different techniques (see Chapters 6–10 and 13–18). The research design should be an explicit part of the research: it should show that you have thought about how, what, where, when and why! There are at least six key things you need to bear in mind to formulate a convincing research design:
1 Think about what research questions to ask
On the basis of your own thinking about the topic, the relevant theoretical and empirical literatures (see Chapter 2), and consulting secondary material (see Chapter 5) – and if possible having discussed it with other students and your tutor – you need to move towards framing your specific research questions. For a human geographer, these might include questions about what discourses you can identify, what patterns of behaviour/activity you can determine, what events, beliefs, and attitudes are shaping people’s actions, who is affected by the issue under consideration and in what ways, and how social relations are played out, and so on. For a physical geographer, these might include questions concerning the rate of operation and location of a certain geomorphological process, the morphology of a selected set of landforms, or the abundance and diversity of particular plant or animal species in a given area (many of the chapters in this volume provide examples of research problems).
It is important to have a strong focus to your research questions rather than adopting a scatter-gun approach asking a diverse range of unconnected questions. This also means bearing in mind the time and resource constraints on your research (see below). At the same time as you develop a set of core aims it is also important to remain flexible, and to remember that unanticipated themes can emerge during the course of fieldwork which redefine the relevance of different research questions, likewise, access or other practical problems can prevent some research aims being fulfilled and lead to a shift in the focus of the work. As such, you should be aware that your research questions may evolve during the course of your project.
2 Think about the most appropriate method(s) to employ
There is no set recipe for this: different methods have particular strengths and collect different forms of empirical material. The most appropriate method(s) for your research will therefore depend on the questions you want to ask and the sort of information you want to generate. Chapters 5–22 outline the advantages and disadvantages of core methods used by human and physical geographers. While many projects in human and physical geography involve going out into the field – for example to interview or observe people, or to take samples or measurements – it is also possible to do your research without leaving your computer, living room or the library. For example, research can be based on visual imagery such as films and television programmes (see Chapters 10 and 30); secondary sources including contemporary and historical/archival material (see Chapters 5, 15 and 29); or GIS and remote sensing (Chapters 20 and 25). Some human geographers are also experimenting with conducting interviews and surveys by email or in chat-rooms (see a brief discussion of this in Chapter 13).
In the process of research design it is important not to view each of these methods as an either/or choice. Rather, it is possible (and often desirable) to mix methods. This process of drawing on different sources or perspectives is known as triangulation. The term comes from surveying, where it describes using different bearings to give the correct position. Thus, researchers can use multiple methods or different sources of information to try and maximize an understanding of a research question. These might be both qualitative and quantitative (see, for example, Sporton, 1999). Different techniques should each contribute something unique to the project (perhaps addressing a different research question or collecting a new type of data) rather than merely being repetitive of each other.
3 Think about what data you will produce and how to manage it
An intrinsic element of your choice of method should not only involve reflecting on the technique itself, but also how you intend to analyse and interpret the data that you will produce. Chapters 6 and 15–26 all discuss how to analyse different forms of quantitative material, while Chapters 8–14 and 27–30 demonstrate how to bring a rigorous analysis to bear on interview transcripts/diary material, historical and archive sources and cultural material. For example, Chapters 17, 22, 23 and 26 discuss some of the issues you need to think about when deciding which statistical techniques to apply to quantitative data. Chapters 27 and 28 present alternative methods of coding interview transcripts/diary material: one manually and the other using computer software. While qualitative techniques emphasize quality, depth, richness and understanding, instead of the statistical representativeness and scientific rigour which are associated with quantitative techniques, this does not mean that they can be used without any thought. Rather, they should be approached in as rigorous a way as quantitative techniques.
4 Think about the practicalities of doing fieldwork
The nitty-gritty practicalities of who, what, when, where, and for how long inevitably shape the choices we can make about our aims, methods, sample size, and the amount of data we have the time to analyse and manage (see Chapter 17 on sampling and Chapter 6 on handling large amounts of qualitative data using computer software packages). Increasingly, the kind of work which is permissible is constrained by changing attitudes and legislative requirements with respect to safety and risk which ultimately define the range and scale of what you can achieve (see, for example, Chapter 4 on the health and safety limitations of fieldwork). It is important to bear in mind that the research which is written up by academics in journals and books is often conducted over several years and is commonly funded by substantial grants. Thus, the scale this sort of research is conducted on is very different to that at which student research projects must be pitched. It is not possible to replicate or fully develop in a three-month student dissertation or project all of the objectives of a two-year piece of academic research that you may have uncovered in your literature review! Rather, it is often best to begin by identifying the limitations of your proposed study and recognizing what you will and will not be able to say at the end of it. Remember that doing qualitative or quantitative work in human geography, just like fieldwork in physical geography, requires a lot of concentration and mental energy. It is both stressful and tiring, so there is a limit to how much you can achieve in the field in any one day. Other practicalities such as the availability of field equipment, tape recorders, cameras, transcribers or access to transport can also define the parameters of your project.
Drawing up a time-management chart or work schedule at the research-design stage can be an effective way of working out how much you can achieve in your study, and later on can also serve as a useful indicator if you are slipping behind. While planning ahead (and in doing so, drawing on the experience of your tutor and other researchers) is crucial to developing an effective research design it is also important to remember that you should always remain flexible.
5 Think about the ethical issues you need to consider
An awareness of the ethical issues which are embedded in your proposed research questions and possible methodologies must underpin your final decisions about the research design. The most common ethical dilemmas in human geography focus around: participation, consent, confidentiality/safe guarding personal information and giving something back (see Alderson, 1995; Valentine, 1999). In physical geography, ethical issues involve not only questions of consent (for example to access field sites on private land) but also the potential impacts of the research techniques on the environment (e.g. pollution). Thus, while ethical issues may seem routine or moral questions rather than anything which is intrinsic to the design of a research project, in practice they actually underpin what we do. They can shape what questions we can ask, where we make observations, who we talk to, and where, when and in what order. These choices in turn may have consequences for what sort of material we collect, how it can be analysed and used, and what we do with it when the project is at an end. As such ethics are not a politically correct add-on but should always be at the heart of any research design (see Chapter 3 for an overview of ethical issues, Chapters 9 and 11 for the specific ethics of participatory research, Chapter 12 about the specific ethical issues involved working in different cultural contexts and Chapter 13 regarding ethical issues in internet mediated research).
6 Think about the form in which your research is to be presented
The scale and scope of your research design will partially be shaped by your motivations for doing the research and what you intend to use the findings for. If you are presenting your findings in a dissertation it will very different to a piece of work than if it is to be presented as a report or in a verbal seminar. Chapter 31 outlines and illustrates these different forms of presentational style in detail, and Chapter 22 describes how to use maps in your work. Likewise, when you are designing, conducting and writing up your research, it is important to bear in mind the assessment criteria by which your findings will be judged. The final chapter in this volume, 32, explores some of the ways that your work might be assessed.
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