Methods in Human Geography

A guide for students doing a research project

Robin Flowerdew, David M. Martin, Robin Flowerdew, David M. Martin

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317873372
• Edición: 2
• Categoría: Naturwissenschaften
• Categoría: Geographie

First published in 2004. This text is an essential guide to current research approaches in human geography, covering all aspects of undertaking a geography research project, from the selection of an appropriate topic through to the organisation and writing of the final report.

Covering a wide range of contemporary research methods, the authors provide practical advice on how to actually undertake a project.

1 Introduction

David Martin and Robin Flowerdew

An individual research project leading to the production of a dissertation or written report forms an important element of many undergraduate and Master's-level geography degree courses. In many institutions this research is introduced by means of a programme of introductory teaching about research methodologies. Doing a research project is quite different to most other components of a conventional taught course of study and, for many students, becomes one of the highlights of the course. In an environment in which both university research and teaching are increasingly scrutinised for quality, it has been repeatedly recognised that good research is strongly linked with good teaching, and that the opportunity to conduct individual research should be a central aspect of contemporary geographical education. Undertaking a research project can develop and exercise many of the key skills that are to be gained from the study of geography. Undoubtedly, some of the best teachers and lecturers in geography are motivated and excited about the subject through their own individual research activities.

Students come to research projects with a wide variety of attitudes and expectations. You may currently view your project as a large, and somewhat frightening, chore or you may welcome it as an opportunity to express originality and get out of the classroom. Both the product and the process of the academic research project have similarities with the requirements of many jobs, and this is reflected in the frequency with which geographers being interviewed for employment will be asked to talk about their research projects in more depth. Research skills and the ability to present findings and conclusions clearly are very definitely valuable personal skills. For many, an undergraduate research project provides a first opportunity to look into the world of academic research that actually creates the knowledge around which conventional class-based teaching is constructed. In a few cases, research projects undertaken as part of degree programmes actually go on to make significant contributions to the subject itself.

It is important to recognise that both the subject and methods of research change quite rapidly. Since we prepared the first edition of this text in 1996, the balance of research methods has changed to the extent that we have felt the need to include several new chapters in this second edition. Established techniques develop and new ones come into fashion. It is all too easy to find methods textbooks that give the impression that there is only one way to tackle a question. Here, we are seeking to provide an overview of a broad range of research methods that are not usually found together, in the belief that this clear presentation of alternatives will lead to more appropriate and more rewarding research. The focus of the book is on research that studies substantive issues, rather than research whose objective is the development of new methodologies.

Although the precise constraints differ according to local circumstances, almost all research is constrained by time, expense and formal requirements of various kinds. This book is particularly aimed at those who are undertaking independent research, usually with the occasional aid of a supervisor, which leads to the production of a substantial written report. The chapters should also provide a useful review for those starting on the path of postgraduate research, but this audience will have the comparative luxury of a less constrained timetable, and will need to consider issues relating to research methodology in much greater depth than is possible here. You will find useful hints here concerning the practicalities of completion and submission of a good research project, but the aim has been primarily to review research methods, and to equip you to think out the most appropriate ways of dealing with your own research problems.

When the first edition of this text was published, there were surprisingly few textbooks on research methods in human geography, but there are now several books (and numerous Master's degree programmes) that cover aspects of the subject. For an informal guide to the basics, see Parsons and Knight (1995). Some of the material provided in Rogers, Viles and Goudie (2002) is relevant to the undergraduate research project as well as to many other aspects of the student experience, while Bell (1999) provides an introductory overview for students in the social sciences. Hoggart, Lees and Davies (2002) and Kitchin and Tate (2000) are perhaps the most directly focused on research methodology and the practice of the dissertation in human geography, although neither takes quite the approach we have adopted here. Raghuram et al. (1998) have published a discussion of the implications of feminist methodology for student projects. Clifford and Valentine (2003) have put together a volume that is similar to this one in that it contains chapters on many of the same issues and methods. Some themes in the Clifford and Valentine volume are not covered by this book, especially issues concerning physical geography, while other important topics are covered here but not there.

There may also be material of interest in books intended mainly for research students such as Phillips and Pugh (2000). Each of these has more detailed discussion of certain issues than is attempted here, but it is hoped that the chapters in this book will be particularly relevant for your needs and, at worst, a good starting point for finding material that you will find helpful for specific topics.

It is particularly important that anyone undertaking a research project which will be formally examined as part of a degree programme obtains and studies their own institutional guidelines, which will give precise instructions concerning length, number of copies required, format, coverage, use of supervisors, submission dates and so on. There will almost certainly be warnings about the unacceptability of plagiarism, which is the term for using other people's words and ideas without acknowledging the source. (It is our hope in preparing this book that although we positively encourage you to investigate previous work fully, you will be inspired to develop excellent original material of your own!)

Further, there may be intermediate steps formally required of you, for example the submission of risk assessments, project proposals or literature reviews prior to the completion of the main report. In seeking to achieve the very best result of which you are capable, it is essential that you follow all these instructions precisely. In many places in this book, the reader is referred to local regulations, where our experience suggests that the details differ widely. Although you should read all of your institution's guidelines carefully at the very beginning, do not expect them to tell you everything that you need to know. There will probably be details about the size of print and widths of margins to be used, but such documents rarely tell you how to choose a topic, how to go about studying it and what to put in your final report.

Two other crucial considerations at the very start of your project are, firstly, health and safety and, secondly, ethical issues applying to the research you have in mind. These may be thought of broadly as measures designed for your own protection and those designed for the protection of those affected by your research. Your institution will expect you to take seriously the process of risk assessment for your proposed project, and will probably provide a standard template for this, which is likely to require discussion with your supervisor prior to completion and signature (see Higgitt and Bullard, 1999). The purpose of risk assessment is to ensure that potential hazards are fully recognised and that appropriate actions are taken to mitigate them: in completing the risk assessment you commit yourself to taking these appropriate actions! Despite the obvious importance of personal safety while conducting research, this is another area in which there has been considerable change between the first and second editions of this text, with a far greater emphasis now placed on risk assessment and record-keeping. It is particularly important that these issues are addressed before any work commences.

It is tempting to think that physical risks apply only to physical geographers working in obviously hazardous situations such as mountain or coastal environments. However, the potential dangers of working or travelling alone or conducting interviews in unfamiliar residential areas may be just as great (Lee, 1995). Clearly, different research designs present different challenges. Control measures may include (but are not limited to) making careful prior arrangements with interviewees about access to their premises and topics for discussion; ensuring that a responsible person knows where you are going, can contact you by mobile phone at an agreed time, and is notified of your safe return; dressing appropriately for the research situation or perhaps working in combination with another researcher. More subtly, some types of research design involving personal interaction with others may present emotional and psychological hazards rather than physical ones. All the relevant hazards should be considered and taken into account before you begin. Lastly do not be a hero for the sake of your research project. If you think you are getting into a dangerous situation, physically or emotionally, trust your judgement and remove yourself from the problem area. Geographical research is important, but your own safety and well being is far more so.

Health and safety considerations also stress the avoidance of putting others in danger by your actions or giving offence to interviewees, and this brings us to the ethical considerations applying to human geography research projects (discussed in more detail by Hay, 2003). These will variously include issues of personal and commercial confidentiality, legal responsibilities and forms of representation. At the simplest level, they will include the requirement for adequate acknowledgement of ownership of materials and ideas used in your report and compliance with copyright constraints. Other issues include the necessity to obtain informed consent from the people you are studying, promising anonymity or confidentiality to them and keeping the promise, allowing them to withdraw from the research without explanation if they so wish, and giving them the opportunity to find out the eventual results of the research. Some researchers argue that the subjects of a study should have the opportunity to comment on how the researcher represents the issues facing them. Some also feel that the researcher — subject relationship is exploitative, helping the researcher get a degree but doing nothing for the people studied. As a reaction to this, researchers may feel an obligation to help their subjects, but you should be wary of getting personally involved to an extent of promising more than you can deliver.

Both the British Sociological Association and the British Psychological Society have issued guidelines about ethical issues in research, and much of what they say is also applicable to human geographers. Generally speaking, the issues are most complex and the guidance least specific where the researcher interacts closely with subjects and the topic of the research is potentially sensitive. As with risk assessment, the degree to which you will need to tackle these matters varies enormously with different project designs. Certainly you should discuss these with your supervisor and follow any local guidance carefully. Lee-Treweek and Linkogle (2000) present a wide-ranging collection of commentaries on the risk and ethics issues involved in social research. The broader interrelationships between geographical research and ethical issues are addressed in the collection of papers edited by Proctor and Smith (1999).

Given that there seem to be so many things to think about, you might long for the chance to visit the experts in each of your potential research methodologies and find out what is really involved, before starting on your project at all. You will want to avoid looking back halfway through your project and saying 'I wish someone had told me that at the beginning!' At a later stage, you might want very much to get some more specialist advice concerning your analysis or the presentation of your report. In most geography departments you will have a supervisor who is assigned to oversee your project, although the role expected of supervisors varies between institutions. You will also have a range of other academic and specialist staff who will do their best to answer your concerns constructively, but these are all busy (and sometimes inaccessible!) people, and you are unlikely to have the luxury of a couple of hours' chat over a cup of coffee with each one of them individually. That is exactly what we hope this book will provide: we have sought to bring together the group of experts that you might have wished to visit, and encouraged them to write down the kind of advice they would have given you. Each of them has experience of supervising student projects, and knows the most frequently asked questions concerning the different approaches presented. Just like the staff in your own department, they each have individual styles of approach to their subject, they have favourite ways of doing things and they don't always completely agree with one another. Nevertheless, in editing this collection we have tried to preserve as much as possible the individuality of their approaches, while ensuring that all the basic concepts are clearly explained, and that the material is presented in a logical order with suitable cross-references between chapters.

Again, just like the staff in your own department, our contributors do not cover all possible subdivisions of human geography. We hope you will be able to relate comments made about other fields to your own work and we want to get away from the idea that certain techniques are only applicable to certain kinds of problem. However, there are two omissions that spring from our methodology-by-methodology approach that may be important to some students. Most of the chapters make the assumption that you are working close to home or at least in a familiar environment, and little explicit consideration is given to the particular problems that may be encountered in doing research overseas, such as specific cultural, legal and logistical obstacles. If this is particularly relevant to you, there are other references which you may find helpful: for example, Nash (2000a, 2000b) and Smith (2003). Robson and Willis (1997), although intended primarily for postgraduates, is full of useful advice and insights, while Devereaux and Hoddinott (1992) deals specifically with fieldwork in developing countries, and Dixon and Leach (1984) provide a handbook for survey research in developing countries.

Likewise, we have not considered in detail the specific problems of historical research. Advice to new researchers in historical geography is provided by Ogborn (2003) and Black (2003). This topic is particularly challenging to write about because different approaches and different types of source are likely to be appropriate for different periods in the past: researchers in historical geography might find themselves as likely to make use of GIS as of textual analysis. Useful texts include Butlin (1993) and Dodgshon and Butlin (1990); students might also find some volumes in the Historical Association's 'Help for Students of History Series' useful (e.g. Perks, 1992).

The chapters of this book can be read sequentially, but it is not necessary for you to do so. Indeed, for many projects you may find that some of the chapters are of indirect relevance only. In order to help you determine whether a chapter contains what you are looking for, each begins with a brief synopsis, outlining its topic and coverage. Equally, it is not possible for chapters of this size to provide comprehensive detailed advice on a specific topic, and contributors have therefore provided a small selection of useful sources for 'further reading' which are given at the end of each chapter. A full consolidated reference list containing all the material referenced in the book is given at the end. Readers will also find that we have created a companion website for the book, which can be accessed via the publisher's pages at www.routledge.com/9780582473218. This serves as an online reference for the many web addresses that are found in the chapters, and will be maintained and updated while the book is in print.

Chapter 2 deals with philosophies underlying human geography research. This chapter has been deliberately set apart because we feel that the issues it raises are so important. All research projects adopt a philosophical position, even if this is done unconsciously, and what is said here is of relevance whatever the specific detail of your project. Readers who start by looking up some particular methodology-based chapter that is of particular interest should return to Chapter 2 once their ideas have begun to crystallise.

The rest of the book is divided into four sections, which broadly reflect the stages involved in a typical research project. Section A covers preparatory issues such as how to choose a topic, how to find previous work on the topic and how to make the most of secondary data sources. This section addresses important basic issues that will be central to any research project, regardless of topic. For most students giving first consideration to their forthcoming project, this will probably be the starting point, although it should be stressed that it is wise to give some consideration to how you will approach data analysis before and during data collection, and to writing up before and during analysis. Not all researchers work according to the same temporal sequence, and we would not wish to be overly prescriptive.

Section B deals with the collection of primary data by various methods, although not all research involves primary data collection or fieldwork. Students are particularly urged to consult their own department's instructions on these issues, as there may be specific requirements concerning data collection. Chapters in this section cover questionnaire design and sampling, interviewing, ethnographic research and new chapters on focus groups and 'participatory' research methods, which have grown in popularity as research tools for human geography projects.

Section C addresses what might broadly be called 'analysis', beginning with the analysis of numerical and categorical data, followed by the analysis of qualitative research findings, textual and graphical material, and ending with spatial analysis and geographical information systems (GIS). These approaches do not usually appear side by side in the same text, due to the rather different philosophical positions held by many of their proponents. Our aim here, however, has been to present a broad range of potential approaches to your research within a single framework, and we would stress our very broad conception of 'data'.

The final section addresses the process of designing and writing the final report and the use of maps and illustrations, which so frequently form an important part of research reporting in geography. This should again be relevant to all projects. Each individual section is prefaced by some further editorial comments tha...