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Global change research methods:
Human geography
3.11. Petr Daněk Methodological transformation in human
geography
10.11. Jiří Malý Population projections – concepts,
methods, data and modelling
17.11. Public holiday – no lecture!
24.11. Ondřej MulíčekMethods and techniques of spatiotemporal
dynamics research
1.12. Ondřej Šerý Methods of field research in human
geography
8.12. Robert Osman Cognitive mapping methods: mental map,
semantic map
15.12. Jakub Trojan Project management methods in
geographical research
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Methodology – method - technique
Methodology: A branch of philosophy dealing
with the study of research methods
Method: a structured procedure for bringing about
a certain objective, like acquiring knowledge or
verifying knowledge claims
Steps used to answer the particular research question
Technique: a particular procedure used as a part of
a method, such as data sampling, collection of data
from the sample, analysis of data (using
quantitative or qualitative techniques),
interpretation of results
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APPROACHES TO "DOING"
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
1. Immersed observation (Carl Sauer,...)
2. Spatial Science (Peter Haggett, ...)
3. Reflexive Research (Linda McDowell, ...)
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1. Immersed
observation
Carl O. Sauer
Berkeley school of cultural
geography
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„Magical Transformation “ by Sauer
Researcher leaves university
He travel to the "wilderness„ with a backpack
Open minded: no expectations, no hypotheses, no
prepared questions
He tries to forget about life at home
He walks through the countryside, observes,
occasionally talks to farmers
Search for the "meaning of the landscape"
why the landscape looks the way it does
Research techniques: walking, photographing,
drawing, taking brief notes
"Magical transformation": geographical knowledge
arises purely from the personal presence of the
observer in the landscape
It is intuitive
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Two dimensions of the immersed
observation
Personal presence and the ability to
observe directly
= the oldest traditions of geographical
research.
Two dimensions of this tradition:
1. Personal presence
"being there„ - travelling to places to be explored
2. The actual act of observation
Both controversial
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a. "Being there" – personal presence
The origins of geography are in the expeditions
of exploration
Scientist (geographer) = explorer (Indiana Jones)
Geographers members of expeditions of exploration
• Since James Cook 1768 expedition to the Pacific
Alexander von Humboldt (South America) –
beginnings of a systematic field research
This tradition is now problematic:
How credible are these works?
Some explorers were more agents of
the empire than researches
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"Being there" – personal presence
The tradition of exploration has led to the
acknowledgment of importance of the field
research
Sauer: "Field research should be a voyage of discovery,
not a mapping exercise"
• "The more energy we invest into creating predefined
categories, the less likely it is that something new is
discovered"
It resulted in the inclusion of field research in
geography education at universities
„Field Geography“ – since the 1950s in the UK
Journal Field Studies – since 1959
• "The object of study is the landscape, so we must learn to look
at it with our own eyes, not only through media such as maps,
literature and films"
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Is „being there" enough? A critique of the
traditional way of field research
Geographers in the field: they may reproduce the
same hierarchical relations with the subjects of
research („natives„) as colonial expeditions
• Using their influence and power to draw knowledge, work,
and skills from the subjects of research
a problem not only of research in colonial Africa, but
also when researching rural areas, minorities, illegal
migration, the sharing economy...
Our presence can be disturbing
Personal presence is important, but we cannot
assume that we have the right to research
We have to negotiate to get access to the community
• formally (permission…)
• and humanly (morally)
to think more about the consequences of our presence
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b. Observation
Sauer: "geographical knowledge rests on an
disciplined observation"
• "Geography is, first of all, knowledge acquired by
observation, ordered by reflection; from there comes a
comparison and a synthesis"
• "No knowledge is more important to a geographer than
'seeing what's there.'"
The ability to observe should be developed from
childhood
• first by observing the domestic landscape, then the
travels abroad
Sidney Wooldridge: „an eye for country“
Geographical Field Group (the 1950s in the UK)
• Objective: to pull geographers out of the office and
into the field
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Observation: a critique of "ocularcentrism"
The geographer puts himself in the position of a
privileged observer
who is gazing down at people and places like in an
exhibition
Derek Gregory: "The World as an Exhibition “
However, visual images of landscapes and people are
not "innocent" records, but created representations
D. Livingstone: Visual representation is an „Artistic Vision“
• influenced by the effort to meet the aesthetic (and political) demands
of the time
• it depicts the „natives“ as the observer wants to see them
• This applies to all kinds of visual representation, incl. photography
James Ryan (1997) – shows the cultural constructions contained in
photographs of distant places
A geographer isn't a neutral observer, but creates
representations of people and places
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Observation: a critique of "ocularcentrism"
Derek Gregory: "academic gaze" - owning a
place through its observation
Gillian Rose: "This scientific ("objective") view
involves an attempt to own, to subordinate the
phenomena it observes“
How to avoid ocularcentrism?
The observation (sight) should not be accorded
such a priority in geographical research
Other senses should be used – especially
hearing
Listening to what people are saying
• Introduction of qualitative methods to human
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2. Spatial science
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Spatial science
Objective: to explain the hidden "spatial laws"
influencing the distribution of phenomena on the
Earth's surface (including man and his behavior)
Methods that can be used to reveal the hidden laws
(regularities) in spatial structures were sought
Statistical tests
Mathematical modelling
localization analyses...
A "scientific" approach
can overcome any bias of the observer (it was believed)
scientist (geographer) = a completely disinterested
observer
looking for an objective explanation
Quantification
In particular, the use of numbers was seen as an
"objective" representation of what was happening in the
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Spatial Science: A Critique
Spatial fetishism: Unable to see what's not on the map
The supposed objectivity of the scientist is false
It is not possible to step out of the social context (status, gender, race,
...)
Reduces methodology to technique
A lot of attention paid to the correct execution of statistical tests and
analyses, but not to how the data on which the test is performed is
obtained, and how the results are interpreted
It lacks an ethical dimension
It tries to provide a scientific explanation, to describe the problem, but
it does not look for a way to overcome even the obvious discrimination
and inequality
Not relevant
Does not respond to social, economic and political problems
Geographers have lost interest in obtaining primary data
Statistical analysis of secondary data prevailed
Ackerman: "field research is no longer necessary (perhaps only
validation of the results)"
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Spatial Science: „Office Geographers“
Mathematical and statistical analyses and models
were important, not the data with which they were
carried out
Places analysed from a distance, often without
personal experience
instead of fieldwork and observation
Almost no interest in the construction of data, just a
specific (narrowly understood) interpretation of data
Responding to criticism: statistical analytical
techniques are used, but only as one among several
methods
greater attention paid to data construction
awareness of the limited explanatory power of both data
and techniques
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3. REFLEXIVE RESEARCH
Linda McDowell
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REFLEXIVE RESEARCH
Criticism of how geography was being "done"
(mainly criticism of the spatial science)
1. It did not deal with how people themselves
participate in the formation of their own world
2. The "political" aspect of the research was missing
Who is the research done for?
Who benefits from it?
The answer: be reflexive, pay explicit attention to
one's own research approaches
conceptual, practical, political and ethical implications
of the research
What the research brings: (a) to us (the researchers), (b)
to the people we study, (c) to the society
1. Humanistic geography
2. Radical geography
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HUMANISTIC GEOGRAPHY
Critical of how spatial science understands
human beings
Just a subject of research, without own will,
interests, expectations and emotions, without
creative power, without moral values...
Tuan, Entrikin, Ley, Samuels, Buttimer …
Attempts to understand the subjective human
beings in all their complexity, as perceiving,
thinking, feeling, acting
Dehumanized geography needs to be "populated"
Subject of study: people and their inner lives
rather than spatial structures and the (supposed)
laws of positivist science
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Humanistic Geography: Methods
But wait - how to get closer to people?
How to get to know their inner lives?
New methods needed!
Methods that would give some structure for meeting
people, for "listening to their voices"
interviews (semi-structured, unstructured interviews)
focus groups
Narrative (oral) histories
Ethnographic techniques
Participatory methods
A return to Sauer‘s „immersed observation", but
with much more attention to people
Geographers spent weeks in the company of individuals,
observing their lives and discussing with them the
significance of places, environments and landscapes
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Example: David Ley in Philadelphia
Method: interpretative social research
Based on participant observation
Permanent residence in the ghetto (from January to
July)
Systematic procedure for obtaining "field data"
• Daily notes – research diary
• impressions, events, interviews... (unstructured day-to-day
findings)
+ interviews, police reports, local government reports...
+ observation – graffiti, destroyed cars, abandoned
houses
A diverse mix of data and ways of their
interpretation
"Interpretative research"
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Ethics and Values in Research
Ethical issues –important because of the close
relationship between the researcher and the people
she/he studies
questions of personal relationship to the project, to
people and places
How does the personality of the researcher affect the
way research is conducted?
How does he/she represent the people he/she works
with?
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Ethics and Values in Research
Example: John Rowles: Studying the
geographical experience of aging people
the last "friend" of the dying Stan; he wishes that Stan
would not die so that he could finish his research, but at
the same time he blames himself for this way of
thinking
There is no general guide on how to answer these
questions
Miles away from dehumanized spatial science
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The subjectivity of the researcher
Sauer: My subjectivity doesn't matter
Spatial science: objective methods, independent of
who performs them
Abler: "Personal life must be completely separated from
scientific research"
Humanistic (and feminist) geography: The
personality of the researcher is as important a part
of the research process as theory, data and methods.
Anne Buttimer: „Personal values can never be
completely separated from the design, conduct, and
evaluation of research."
Moreover, it is useless to try, because it deprives us of an
important starting point for ethical evaluation (and also
limits creativity).
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RADICAL GEOGRAPHY
Origins: just "mapping" the unequal distribution of
wealth and power
social and environmental problems, poverty,
discrimination, injustice...
It soon embraced the philosophy of Western
Marxism
David Harvey (1973): Social Justice and the City
Methods of data construction: questionnaires,
statistical data (quantitative)
They were not much different from the older, positivist
geography
However, the goal was different: criticism of the status
quo, the fight against injustice, the search for solutions
Conceptually and politically more "radical" and
"new" than humanistic geography, but
methodologically not
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Example: William Bunge in Detroit
„Society for human exploration“
Research field: inner city, ghetto, slums
Staying in the place or frequent visits („being there“)
Main goal: to help the marginalised groups, to find and
implement a solution
e.g. places where traffic accidents involving children occur
„advocacy geography“
Solution: urge local authorities to take action; If not, they
set up civic groups with local residents and implemented
projects themselves.
bottom-up research, focused on specific, topical issues
common to the humanist G: "immersion" in the community
Local people as active creators of their environment, not recipients
of the "dictates" of scientific laws.
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FEMINIST GEOGRAPHY
Begun in the 1970s with the aim of documenting the
different spatial behaviour and place perceptions of
women
It quickly grew into a fundamental critique of the
unequal roles of women and men in society
"Gender Division of Urbanized Space" (McDowell)
The need for new methods: how can we make the
voices of those who fear discrimination or even
secretly suffer violence heard?
Personal engagement of researcher, her/his immersion in
the topic („Intensive research “)
Qualitative research, non-quantifiable data
in-depth interviews, "oral history", life stories
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Reflexive research – Comparison with
traditional (Sauerian) geography
It is not possible to separate research from personal
life and the status of researcher in society
The separation of everyday life and the „field" is
unattainable
effort to get as much information as possible before
the field research
The „field" is often small localities "here at home"
Shopping mall, central city, gated community, ghetto...
trying to get to know places and people thoroughly
(just like Sauer)
Strongly proactive
inventing new research tools (how to get data...)
It considers important to devote a chapter to
methodology