Geography 237 Geographic Research: Methods and Issues

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Geography 237Geographic Research Methods and
Issues

• Introduction Science and Social Science
• (Babbie, Chapter 1)

• Syllabus and course overview
• Science and everyday enquiry
• Social science
• Errors of enquiry
• Criticism of social science
• Forms of reasoning
• Types of explanation
• Methods

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Science, Social Science, and Everyday Enquiry

• What is Science?
• Differentiate everyday and scientific enquiry.
• What is Social Science?

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Are Polls Social Science?

• http//www.gallup.com/poll/multimedia/video/segmen
  ts/vr040721.ram

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Is this Web Survey Social Science?

• http//3sc.environics.net/surveys/3sc/main/3sc.asp

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Science General Characteristics

• Search for knowledge/truth
• Sparked by curiosity (a question)
• Culminates in discovery

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Distinguishing Everyday from Scientific Enquiry

• Everyday Enquiry
• Evidence largely anecdotal or based on appeals to
  authority
• C Assertions often causal ("A" does cause "B")
• C Non-systematic
• C Based on past experience and/or short-term
  enquiries
• C Logical?
• C Prediction without understanding

• Scientific Enquiry
• Evidence from controlled observation
• Assertions usually probabilistic ("A"
  often/usually leads to/associated with "B")
• Systematic data collection and analysis
• Based on long-term enquiries
• Logical
• Prediction with understanding

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Social Science

• The study of (human) social phenomena through
  controlled, logical, systematic data collection
  and analysis with a view to explaining what?
  and/or why?

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Second-Hand Knowledge and Everyday Human Enquiry

• Tradition
• inherited knowledge - often culturally defined
• advantage cumulative wisdom
• disadvantage difficult to challenge
• Authority
• knowledge from experts
• advantage trust during controversy
• disadvantage experts speaking outside area of
  expertise
• disadvantage experts make mistakes

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Common Errors of Inquiry

• Inaccurate Observation
• observing incorrectly
• solutions systematize have a methodology
• Overgeneralization
• conclusions from too few cases
• solutions sampling, replication
• Selective Observation
• e.g., racism
• select only cases that fit existing theory
• solutions systematize, randomize
• Poor Logic
• e.g., gamblers fallacy
• solution peer review

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What is and why as Opposed to What Ought to Be

• Which is better, capitalism or socialism?
• Which is more important, geography or history?
• Who is the fastest human?
• What role for social values?

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The Role of Values/CriteriaWho is the fastest
human?

• What criteria?
• 100m? 200m?
• top speed?
• average speed?
• 100m
• Ben Johnson 9.79 (1988 Olympics)
• Donovan Bailey 9.79 (1996 Olympics)
• Maurice Greene 9.79
• 200m
• Michael Johnson 19.32
• another view
• http//www.runnersweb.com/running/fastestm.html

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Common Criticisms of Social Science

• Triviality
• everyone knows that
• even apparently trivial theories can be misguided
• e.g., fairness and promotions in military (see
  chapter) awarding high marks
• Exceptions
• e.g., though men generally earn more than women,
  some women earn more than men
• patterns are probabilistic not causal per se
• Interference
• study subjects consciously change behaviour to
  alter results
• e.g., conservative who votes NDP
• rare

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Forms of Reasoning

• Deduction
• moves from the general to the particular
• start with theory and apply it to the real world
• e.g., evolution - applies to all species
• e.g., distance decay - applies to rents in all
  cities?
• Induction
• moves from the particular to the general
• start with the real world - then develop
  concepts/theories based on what is observed
• e.g., evolution - from finch morphology to the
  theory of evolution
• e.g., distance decay - from Chicago land values
  in late 1960s to theory of rent distance decay
  (bid-rent curves)

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Types of Explanation

• Idiographic
• an exhaustive explanation of some
  phenomenon/individual
• all causes sought
• particular to cases studied
• Nomothetic
• partial explanation of some phenomenon/group of
  individuals
• most important causes parsimony
• generalizable

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Theory and Method

• Theory
• a set of concepts plus a characterization of
  their interrelationships that, when taken
  collectively explains a given phenomenon or set
  of phenomena
• used to make sense of/simplify the world
• more than a mere description

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Methods

• the procedures/mechanisms for doing research
  which includes specific instruments/tools for
  data collection
• List as many social science methods as you can
  think of
• E.g, to answer the question Why do some people
  recycle and others do not?

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Examples of Social Science Methods

• Secondary Data - e.g., statistically analyse
  municipal data
• Content/Textual Analysis - e.g., newspaper/media
  coverage on recycling
• Observation - e.g., observe recycling behaviours
  from a distance
• Participant Observation - e.g., join, and observe
  recycling advocacy group
• In-Depth Interviews - e.g., meaning of
  recycling/not recycling
• Surveys - e.g., reasons for recycling/not
  recycling in large sample of people